Ohio State now knows exactly when two of its biggest games will land on the calendar, and both are getting the spotlight.
The Buckeyes will head to Los Angeles on Halloween to face USC at 7:00 PM. That trip also lines up with what will be Luke Fahey’s first start as an Ohio State Buckeye.
USC enters that matchup with a 13-10-1 edge in the series, and the meeting will be the 25th all-time between the programs.
The following week, Ohio State returns home to Columbus for a showdown with Oregon. That game has been set for 3:30 on the first weekend of November.
It had looked like one of the marquee games on the entire schedule, but Oregon’s outlook has changed sharply. The Ducks have dealt with major injuries this season, and Monday brought more bad news when nearly their entire wide receiver core got in trouble with the law and will face serious repercussions.
What once had the feel of a potential monster matchup now carries a different tone, though it could still end up being a meeting between two teams fighting for their College Football Playoff lives with backup quarterbacks leading the way.
For Ohio State, the timing adds to the challenge. The Buckeyes have been cruising early, but now they’re staring at a brutal stretch without their quarterback and with two of the season’s biggest games coming in primetime.
It was never really about whether Ohio State could win these games. The bigger question was always whether the Buckeyes could absorb what this schedule was going to demand.
In Other News...
Ohio State Just Entered A Quarterback Debate Nobody Wanted
Ohio State was already navigating the usual late-season pressure when Julian Sayin went down against Indiana, and now the Buckeyes have an unexpected quarterback conversation on their hands. The injury to the starting quarterback adds a jolt of uncertainty at a position Ohio State had hoped to keep settled, with coach Ryan Day needing to sort through a depth chart that suddenly looks a lot thinner than it did a week ago.
Luke Fahey stepped in after Sayin exited the game, but his performance left enough questions to keep the job open. Tavien St. Clair is waiting in the wings as one of the most highly regarded young quarterbacks on the roster, and the Buckeyes may now have to lean on a pair of freshmen sooner than anyone expected while Sayin works his way back. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Recruiting Pipeline Looks Even Stronger Than Fans Realize
Ohio States recruiting machine is already rolling well beyond the usual horizon, with the Buckeyes sitting on 20 verbal commitments in the 2027 class alone. That group includes six national top 100 prospects and the countrys No. 1 overall player, DJ Jacobs, a sign that the programs future roster construction is moving at a pace most schools cannot match.
The pipeline does not stop there, either. The 2028 class already features five commitments, four of them nationally ranked and headlined by quarterback Christopher Vargas, while the 2029 class has a commitment in wide receiver Austin Miller, who is ranked No. 50 nationally. For a staff trying to keep the Buckeyes stocked across multiple cycles, the early breadth is impressive enough, but the next question is how long this momentum can keep building. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Playoff Picture Just Got More Complicated After AP Chaos
A wild upset weekend around college football has turned the playoff race into a moving target, and Ohio State is right in the middle of the ripple effects. Several top-ranked teams fell, including No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Notre Dame, creating a fresh scramble near the top of the AP rankings even though USC was idle and did not have to spend the weekend on the field.
The Trojans still picked up a little from the chaos, climbing to No. 17 in the AP Top 25, but the bigger question is whether they can turn that position into a real playoff push. Oddsmakers still view USC as a long shot at +425 to make the College Football Playoff, and the road ahead runs straight through opponents like Ohio State and Indiana, the kind of games that could either validate the buzz or leave the picture just as murky. [Read more 🡒]