Ohio State vs. Oregon series history: A matchup of titans

This coming Saturday, October 12, will be the biggest test the Ohio State Buckeyes have faced up to this point this season, potentially even for the entire season. For the first time in school history, the Buckeyes are heading to Oregon to play the Ducks in an extremely important and decisive game.

With Oregon recently joining the Big Ten this year, matchups like this will become even more common. Both teams head into this game undefeated at 5-0 and look to keep their rankings of second and third in the nation, or place even higher in the AP Top 25.

Before joining the Big Ten, Ohio State and Oregon had only played each other three total times, with the Buckeyes leading the Ducks 2-1 all-time .

The first two matchups took place in championship games: the 2009/10 Rose Bowl and the 2014/15 College Football National Championship. Both games the Buckeyes took home the trophies (26-17 and 42-20), with Terrelle Pryor winning the Rose Bowl MVP and Ezekiel Elliott receiving the CFP Offensive Player of the Game.

In their most recent matchup, however, the Buckeyes lost at home 28-35 back in 2021. Despite C.J. Stroud's three touchdowns, the Buckeyes could not stop Oregon's run game.

Now, nearly three years have passed by, and head coach Ryan Day looks to use their most recent matchup as fuel heading into this year's game at Autzen Stadium. While Oregon leads this season slightly in passing yards, Ohio State is dominating them in the rushing totals and individual receiving yards (Smith and Egbuka both over 430 yards).

If the Buckeyes are able to start the game hot and keep up their aggressive defense, they should put themselves in a great position to stay ahead in the series history.

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