Dan Lanning breaks down challenge of facing Ohio State WRs Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith

Ohio State has had four wide receivers drafted in the first round over the last three years. The No. 2 Buckeyes have another one on the way in senior Emeka Egbuka , and maybe their best yet breaking out in true freshman Jeremiah Smith .

Through five games, No. 3 Oregon ranks 18th nationally with 162 passing yards allowed per game. That said, head coach Dan Lanning knows his Ducks squad will have its hands full during Saturday’s top-three showdown in Eugene.

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“Yeah, stop go,” Lanning said, when asked Monday about Egbuka and Smith. “They can catch the ball, and they can turn it into a big play right away. It’s not necessarily always average depth of target. It’s way down the field. It’s their ability to catch it in space and get vertical.

“They block really well on the perimeter. And those guys have big catch radiuses. So you see them win on balls that you would call 50-50 balls a lot of times. They win on contested balls, they do a really good job there.”

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Both Egbuka and Smith have recorded at least three contested catches this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Egbuka snagged three of them over the weekend against Iowa, reeling in red zone touchdown receptions of 14, 15 and three yards.

Smith, meanwhile, has impressed all season but especially the last two weeks when he’s wowed with a trio of one-handed catches. Two of those went for touchdowns, one at Michigan State on a hole shot against Cover 2, and the other against Iowa on a fade pattern near the goal line.

Smith’s right hand is a catch magnet, and he leads Ohio State with 453 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns. He also found the end zone on the ground versus the Spartans.

Egbuka is atop the team leaderboard with 30 receptions — seven more than Smith — and he isn’t far behind his freshman counterpart with 433 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns so far this season.

Those two dynamic receivers are just a couple of the several weapons at the disposal of Chip Kelly, who is coordinating and calling an offense that’s currently fourth in scoring offense (46.0 points per game) and ninth in total offense (510.2 yards per game).

“It’s similar to what I’ve talked about with our team, and what we hope that we can be,” Lanning said. “You can’t take away one thing knowing that something else is a strength as well, right? They’re not really limited in what their strengths are. They’re able to run the ball really well, they’re able to throw it well. Talented at multiple positions, quarterback ( Will Howard ) can run the ball as well.

“So there’s a lot of things that present threats, and I think you have to be sound in everything you come up with, be aware of any risks that you’re going to be taking — and when is that risk worth it or not — and be able play sound football.”

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