Ohio State is headed for a rematch with Oregon, a different team than in October – for better or for worse

On By Littum

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sure, it could be billed as a rematch of one of the best college football games of the season.

When Ohio State and Oregon play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, that’s what will be the easy narrative to pick up. The Ducks’ one-point win over the Buckeyes on Oct. 12 in Eugene will be the first thing that comes to mind.

But that matchup is certainly different, and will be different, than the one that takes place 10 days after Ohio State’s 42-17 thrashing of Tennessee Saturday night in Columbus. And while it seems “poetic” that the Buckeyes will get a chance at a rematch, the previous game has almost no bearing on the next one.

“I mean, I’m no poet, man,” left tackle Donovan Jackson said with a laugh. “I just go where a bracket tells me to go and I just play as hard as I need to. But it’s fun to go against a familiar face and hopefully execute better than we did last time.”

Jackson, as likely as anyone on Ohio State’s roster, is in a much different place than the Oct. 12 game.

When Jackson took the field in October, he played at left guard between a Rimington Award winner (Seth McLaughlin) and a clear top 100 NFL Draft pick in Josh Simmons at left tackle. When he took the field Saturday night in the team’s first-round playoff game, he started at left tackle — because Simmons, who was injured in the Oregon game, is out for the season with a knee injury.

Now he will be going up against two talented pass rushers in Jordan Burch, who was unavailable for the Oct. 12 game, and Matayo Uiagalelei at both defensive end spots.

“I wasn’t as deep on film as with them, obviously they weren’t the ones I was going against, but I know they’re obviously very talented rushers,” Jackson said. “They use their hands well. They use their leverage well. So I had my work cut out for me and just tried to put my best foot forward.”

Ohio State’s game plan that night in Eugene was, in part, to try to establish a rushing attack against an Oregon defense that has talent at every level of the defense. Come Jan. 1, that certainly won’t be the plan Ohio State’s coaching staff is putting forth. Change was evident Saturday against Tennessee, and it’s sure to be evident in Pasadena.

But it wasn’t just the offensive line and style of play that underwent a change since the Oregon game. The defense, while not completely overhauling its scheme, changed things up in the 32-31 loss to Oregon, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 341 yards and no sacks.

It should be noted that the Buckeyes, in part due to the lack of pressure from that game, have gone to blitzing more and trying to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks. While Gabriel was comfortable all night in the pocket, the quarterbacks (Penn State’s Drew Allar, Indiana’s Nathan Rourke and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava) certainly haven’t been since.

“Well, look, I mean, we just tightened things up,” defensive end Jack Saywer said. “We’re not all that different, you know what I mean? We didn’t go in there and redo everything, but we just tightened some things up, made some adjustments, and we plan different things for every team we play. So I mean, it’s just little things like that, you can take it every week.”

Now, with Oregon sitting at home on a bye earned from winning the Big Ten, Ohio State rolls in for an annihilation of Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

When the Buckeyes take on the Ducks, however, their newfound momentum won’t carry over from the last game against Oregon.

“Yeah, I know coaches were saying all week we just need to get one to get this momentum going and then get the ball rolling a little bit,” Jackson said. “So we’re going to clean this up and hopefully go out to Cali and do what we have to do.”