Ohio State football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2023
By John Buhler
The Ohio State Buckeyes will look to get back into the College Football Playoff this season.
No team is probably more anxious to get the season started than the Ohio State Buckeyes.
With the stroke of midnight and the calendar flipping over, the Buckeyes’ once-promising 2022 campaign ended instantly in 2023. Despite being the fourth team in the College Football Playoff, they proved everyone wrong over the notion that they didn’t belong, even in defeat. Too bad close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Like Noah Ruggles’ field goal try, he pulled the pin…
Let’s take a look at what the Buckeyes will have to navigate on their regular-season schedule.
Ohio State football: Way-too-early game predictions for 2023 Buckeyes
Indiana won’t know it’s bad yet, which could make for an interesting ballgame
For whatever reason, we always seem to look at road games in Bloomington in the first half of the season with some level of intrigue. This is before basketball season arrives at IU and Indiana still has some hope that it can put together a winning product on the football field. So with that in mind, Indiana might actually push the Buckeyes a bit more than people are probably expecting.
Winner: Ohio State (1-0)
If Ryan Day loses to the Penguins, he should be forced to walk to Antarctica
The zoo may be very nice, but you can’t lose to the Youngstown State Penguins, not even if Jim Tressel would like to beg and differ. It will be a nice early afternoon in Columbus in fairly early September. This will be an opportunity for Ryan Day’s Buckeyes to clean some things up offensively, as well as for Jim Knowles to show us what he knows on the defensive side of things.
Winner: Ohio State (2-0)
Look for the Buckeyes to go 1-0 vs. Group of Five competition this college season
Because they play a nine-game conference schedule, the Buckeyes only get to play three non-conference games annually. Fate would have it, they only face one Group of Five opponent this year. Although the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are known for slinging the ball like a towel, they will score points on the Buckeyes. Unfortunately for them, the Buckeyes have more good players.
Winner: Ohio State (3-0)
Buckeyes will have the luck of the Irish, even after leaving The Horseshoe behind
This will be the first real test of the Buckeyes’ season. No, they will not be getting Marcus Freeman in Game 2 of his Notre Dame tenure in The Horseshoe. The Fighting Irish came alive in the second half of last year to finish with a respectable mark. If Sam Hartman plays up to his lofty standard, maybe the Irish hold serve? Then again, the Buckeyes were built for big games like this.
Winner: Ohio State (4-0)
The Buckeyes will be on their annual bye after having finished their non-conference season slate.