Bucs-Ducks Open Thread

I feel like the Ohio State-Oregon game deserves its own thread… this is the marquee matchup of the 2024 Big Ten. Quick facts and opinions:

• Ohio State leads the all time series 9-1. Oregon leads the last one game 1-0.
• OSU is a 3.5 point favorite… which seems about right to me.
• The Oregon defense has been very good but it’s clear that the offense hasn’t clicked yet. Much will depend on Dillon Gabriel’s ability to keep the ball moving.
• It will be tough to match the Alabama-Georgia game of two weeks ago, although if the Ducks win it would be pretty fucking sad for them to lose next week at Purdue (Loomis and I will be in attendance) which would be the rough analogy of Bama losing at Vandy.
• Speaking of which, no one in Kentucky is quite sure what to think about Vandy this week.
• Ohio State is extremely talented, and even after years of extraordinary recruiting success the Ducks still struggle to match that top-line talent… but then they struggled to match USC in recruiting in the Pac-12 and it didn’t end up mattering all that much on the field.
• Good article on what Chip Kelly still means for Oregon.

Notwithstanding the many friends, students, and colleagues that I have known who have attended The Ohio State University… let me be perfectly clear that hard experience has demonstrated that Buckeye fans are low quality humans who deserve to watch their team get beaten, battered, and brutalized. Go Ducks!