The 10 Most Interesting Facts About The Ohio State vs. Oregon Game

There are dozens of fascinating storylines surrounding this weekend’s showdown between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oregon. From the first matchup between these two national powers as conference opponents, to the Buckeyes’ first trip to Autzen Stadium since 1967, to the College Football Playoff implications, there is a lot to talk about.

This week’s media notes, produced by Ohio State Sports Information Director Jerry Emig and his staff, include a fitting number of interesting facts, figures, and numbers to know.

Ohio State and Oregon have played 10 times previously, with the Buckeyes holding a 9-1 advantage. However, the Ducks won the most recent matchup, 35-28 in Columbus in 2021. That game holds the distinction of being the only time a Ryan Day-coached team has lost before Thanksgiving.

This will be just the second time the teams have matched up in Eugene. The only other time the Buckeyes visited Autzen Stadium was in 1967, in just the second game in stadium history. OSU won that game, 30-0, and won the other half of the home-and-home in Columbus in 1968. They were scheduled to play in Autzen again in 2020, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams have played six times in Columbus, once in Eugene, twice in the Rose Bowl (1958 and 2010), and once in the national championship game in Arlington, Texas in January 2015.

College Gameday will be in Eugene for this weekend’s game. This will be the 60th time that ESPN’s signature pregame show has traveled to cover a game involving the Buckeyes. OSU is 40-19 in previous Gameday games, the most wins of any program in the nation.

Senior WR Emeka Egbuka is now in 7th place in Ohio State history with 154 career catches. He needs just 48 more to break KJ Hill’s program record of 201. Egbuka is also 10th all-time in receiving yardage with 2,290, 608 behind Michael Jenkins’ career record.

Back in 2018, we had a recurring weekly feature at The Ozone about the records that Dwayne Haskins was breaking in each game with his insane passing stats. It might be time to start a similar one here for Jeremiah Smith.

Smith is absolutely laying waste to the OSU freshman receiving record book and could be on pace to break some single-season records as well. Smith is already 5th on the season receptions list for a true freshman with 23. He would pass Ted Ginn (25) for fourth with three receptions against Oregon, and with eight catches, he would pass Garrett Wilson (31) for exclusive hold on third place. After that, only David Boston (33) and Cris Carter (41) would be left.

Smith is already in sole possession of third place for receiving touchdowns for a true freshman with six. He will tie David Boston (7) for second place with his next score, and his next touchdown after that will tie Cris Carter’s school record (8). He could conceivably own that record by himself this weekend, and still have six more regular season games, plus the postseason, to pad the lead.

Finally, Smith is already in second place in receiving yardage for a true freshman with 453. Only Cris Carter (648) is left for him to pass. He would need 196 receiving yards to take sole possession of that record this weekend, which is ambitious, but not impossible. The single-game receiving yardage record for an OSU true freshman is 172 by Cris Carter against USC.

Will Howard already has four rushing touchdowns this season, the most for any Buckeye quarterback since Justin Fields ran for five in 2020. Fields ran for 10 touchdowns in 2019.

The NCAA tracks 15 key team statistics on offense and defense; scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, total defense, passing offense, passing defense, rushing offense, rushing defense, third-down conversions, third-down conversions allowed on defense, red zone offense, red zone defense, turnover margin, tackles for loss, and sacks.

Passing offense is the only one of those 15 in which Oregon currently ranks better than Ohio State. In that category, the Ducks are 19th in the nation, and the Buckeyes are 23rd. Ohio State leads Oregon in the other 14 categories, with the most lopsided advantage being in red zone defense, where the Buckeyes are allowing scores on 60 percent of red zone possessions (3rd in the nation), and Oregon is allowing scores on 91.7 percent of red zone possessions (104th in the nation).

In a more head-to-head comparison, the Buckeye offense is tops in the nation, having scored on 100 percent of its red zone possessions, while Oregon (again) ranks 104th in the nation with points allowed on 91.7 percent.

On the other side of the ball, Oregon is 93rd in the country, scoring points 81 percent of the time that it reaches the red zone. The Buckeye defense is third in the country, allowing points on just 60 percent of possessions in the red zone.

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