Buckeyes ramping up prep for Oregon with pair of 'edgy' practices

COLUMBUS — Ohio State is finally playing a game against an opponent that will truly challenge the Buckeyes.

After playing five games against teams that, quite frankly, couldn’t match up to the talent assembled at Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon will certainly be the first real test for this Buckeyes team that is currently the Big Ten and national title favorite.

So, as you can imagine, Ohio State has had two ultra-important days of practice. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said Wednesday that he likes what he has seen from the pair of ‘edgy’ practices Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Good and spirited,” Day said about practice this week. “But it’s about us. We always say that. So even when we’re playing an excellent opponent like we’re playing, you know, it’s still about us. We want to know our opponent as well, but it’s about the standard we set. And we’ve had good two days right here. And guys have been edgy, which is what you want. And coaches have been edgy. So that’s good.

“We’re going to get back on the film here and figure out what corrections we need to make and where we need to enhance the things we did well, and keep grinding and keep preparing. As we head into Saturday.”

With one final day of practice Thursday, then the Best Fridays in Football and a flight out to Eugene on Friday, the work week is almost complete. Game time is just a couple of days away.

And after a pair of ‘edgy’ days of work out on the turf at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Ohio State feels very good about its standing heading into the top-five matchup at Oregon.

ICYMI: Latest on status of Buckeyes RG battle

Ohio State was still working through one final position battle this season before last week. That battle may be all but settled.

Third-year offensive lineman Tegra Tshabola had been rotating with redshirt freshman Austin Siereveld against Marshall and Michigan State. But in the Buckeyes’ win over Iowa on Saturday, Tshabola took nearly every snap at right guard; Siereveld did not rotate in.

When asked by Lettermen Row if Tshabola was the team’s full-time guard ahead of the No. 2 Buckeyes matchup at No. 3 Oregon this weekend, head coach Ryan Day had a candid answer.

“Probably,” Day said. “But we’ll see again. We’ll keep evaluating it on a week-to-week basis. But he is getting better, and we felt like he could handle those guys inside and give us the best chance in that moment to win the game [Saturday against Iowa].

“So we’ll, again, evaluate it this week. But if he continues to improve and continues to do what he’s doing, then it’ll look the same.”

Tshabola and Siereveld have both looked good; Ohio State had two good options at right guard moving forward. But it appears Tshabola will be the guy for the critical Big Ten matchup against Oregon this weekend in Eugene.

ICYMI: Oregon HC Dan Lanning talks Ohio State

COLUMBUS — No. 2 Ohio State will hit the road this weekend to face No. 3 Oregon in Autzen Stadium. The highly-anticipated matchup is expected to be the game of the year in the Big Ten — and maybe in college football this fall.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning met with the media Monday evening to preview the matchup against the Buckeyes.The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard

“Big game here. We’re certainly excited for this opportunity. I thought this atmosphere was unbelievable last week [in the Ducks’ win over Michigan State on Friday night]. Had the chance to review some stuff from last weekend and there are a lot of areas for growth. This is a big challenge for us and I know our fans will be great.”

What else did Lanning say about Ohio State?

READ: What Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said about Buckeyes

Counting down

Ohio State at Oregon: 2 days
Ohio State at Penn State: 23 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 51 days

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