Nick Saban reveals keys to an Oregon victory vs. Ohio State

Oregon hosts Ohio State this Saturday in a marquee matchup between two of the top three-ranked teams in the country. A game widely considered the biggest test of the season for the Ducks as new members of the Big Ten Conference.

It’s no secret that the Buckeyes have been a Big Ten powerhouse that’s fully adapted to the style of play necessary to be successful in the league. But former Alabama head coach Nick Saban revealed what the keys will be for the Ducks in order to secure a statement win over the Buckeyes this weekend.

“One of the big things is they can’t turn the ball over,” Saban said Friday on The Pat McAfee Show. “They turn the ball over like three times in the red zone, throw interceptions, things like that. I mean in games like this, you can’t make those kind of mistakes. The turnover battle is important enough, but when you get the ball in the red zone and you turn it over, that’s even more inefficient I would say.”

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been efficient this season throwing the football. But after turning the ball over with a fumble in each of the first two games of the season and throwing the first three interceptions of the year in the Ducks’ last two games, ball security will definitely be a priority on Saturday. Along with getting help from his offensive line and the defensive line stepping up.

“I think to beat Ohio State, you gotta be able to run the ball. The last six games they’ve lost, the other team ran for more than what they did, because they’re going to try to run the ball,” Saban explained .”So if you can control the line of scrimmage, you got a chance. Now can Oregon do that? Can they match up up front? That’s going to be the big question.”

The line of scrimmage will be a valuable battle to win during Saturday’s game in Autzen Stadium. But even beyond Saturday’s game, Oregon and the other new members of the Big Ten hailing from the West Coast will have to be intentional about that area moving forward according to Saban.

“I think the big thing about the West Coast, and I’ve always felt this way, is you got to import big people. Because there’s not enough big people on the West Coast, I’m talking about interior lineman, unless they come from Hawaii, or Samoa, or someplace. Because they just don’t have the kind of big people that we have in the Midwest and the Southeast,” Saban said.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning coached under Saban and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart before taking over the Ducks. Doing so knowing the importance of winning in the trenches as he’s built up the program to be more poised than other Big Ten newcomers for Saturday’s game despite some early season struggles.

“To me that’s the big question. Because the big question for Oregon going into the season was is the offensive line going to be able to overcome the issues?” Saban asked. “Now they have overcome some of the issues from the first couple games, given up sacks, being able to run the ball a little more effectively. But to do it against Ohio State now, that’s another question that needs to be answered. And we’ll soon find out.”

All questions about the Ducks will be answered this Saturday when they kick off against Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on NBC and streaming on Fubo.