After being able to enjoy some home cooking during the non-conference portion of their schedule, Ohio State will hit the road for their Big Ten opener on Saturday.
The Buckeyes will head out west to take on the Washington Huskies in Seattle, marking their first appearance at Husky Stadium since 2007. Saturday’s contest will be a battle between two teams with 3-0 records so far this season.
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The last time the Buckeyes took the field was almost two weeks ago when they defeated the Ohio Bobcats 37-9 under the lights at Ohio Stadium. The scoreline was a little deceiving since Ohio scored on a 67-yard touchdown pass just after halftime to make the score 13-9.
Ohio State would respond by scoring 24 unanswered points to stay undefeated against their in-state foe.
History with Washington
Saturday’s game will be the 13th matchup all-time between the Buckeyes and Huskies. The last time the programs met was in the 2019 Rose Bowl, which was Urban Meyer’s last game as Ohio State head coach, as he handed the keys to the program to Ryan Day following the 28-23 victory.
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The Buckeyes have won the last four games in the series, with the last Washington win coming in 1994 in Seattle when they beat the Buckeyes 25-16 thanks to 212 yards rushing from Napoleon Kaufman. Ironically enough, the following season Eddie George rushed for 212 yards as Ohio State won 30-20 in Columbus. After this year’s game, the next time the schools are scheduled to meet in conference play will be in 2028.
No matter where games are played, it’s extremely difficult to beat Ryan Day and the Buckeyes. During his time as Ohio State head coach, Day’s teams are 23-3 in true road games, with the only losses coming in two games at Michigan and last season at Oregon. Through his first six seasons in charge of the program, Day is 46-5 in Big Ten games, and his overall record is 73-10.
The Bucks are ballin’
Last month Julian Sayin made his first collegiate start in the showdown with Texas in Columbus. Now Sayin will face a very raucous environment in his first road start in college. Last time out Sayin threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns against Ohio, but he also did throw two interceptions against the Bobcats.
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Even with the two miscues, Sayin has been very impressive in his first three starts. Not only has Sayin only missed on 15 of his 71 pass attempts so far this season. The 78.3% completion percentage Sayin has posted is currently tops in the country.
Then again, it also helps that Sayin not only has Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate to throw to, he also has a quartet of tight ends who have shown they are capable of making tough catches when their numbers are called.
Smith is coming off one of the best games of his young career, not only catching nine passes for 153 yards and a score against Ohio, the sophomore wide receiver also ran for a 17-yard touchdown in the second half. Through the first 19 games of his college career, Smith has 96 catches.
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With four catches against Washington, Smith will tie Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the fastest to 100 receptions.
Along with Smith, Carnell Tate also eclipsed 100 yards receiving against the Bobcats, finishing with 101 yards and a touchdown on his five catches. The 100-yard game was the second of Tate’s career, with the first coming last season against Nebraska when he rolled up 102 yards on the Cornhuskers. Tate has now caught a pass in 31 consecutive games.
The third Buckeye to catch a touchdown from Sayin in the win over Ohio was Max Klare. The Purdue transfer tight end hauled in his first touchdown pass as a Buckeye, finishing with two receptions for 30 yards. Now three Ohio State tight ends have found the end zone, with Klare joining Will Kacmarek and Jelani Thurman, who each caught a touchdown against Grambling State.
One area of the Ohio State offense that is starting to come into view is the rushing attack. C.J. Donaldson has been solid after transferring from West Virginia, posting 151 yards and two touchdowns in his first three games with the Buckeyes. James Peoples hasn’t quite lived up to expectations yet, rushing for just 126 yards on 25 carries this season.
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Enter Bo Jackson. After becoming the first freshman since Dallan Hayden to hit 100 yards rushing in a game with his output against Grambling State, Jackson made it back-to-back games reaching triple digits by rolling up 109 yards against Ohio.
Jackson brings an electric element to the running game that Donaldson and Peoples haven’t shown they have been able to provide. Expect Jackson to see even more time on the field as the season moves along.
Both Sayin and Jackson have benefitted from an offensive line that has been at the top of their game through the first three games of the season. So far this year, the Ohio State offensive line has allowed just one sack and four tackles for loss. The group has seemed to settle on the five starters. with Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa rotating in, mostly at right guard.
The defense hasn’t lost a step
Despite losing a bunch of starters from last year’s defense, along with defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, this year’s Ohio State defense is looking just as strong as last year’s unit. Currently the Buckeyes are tied with BYU as the stingiest scoring defense in the country, only allowing 5.3 points per game.
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Along with not allowing any of their three opponents to reach double figures on the scoreboard, Ohio State ranks sixth in passing yards allowed, giving up just 118.3 pass yards per game, and they are 11th in total defense, allowing 227.7 yards per game.
The Buckeye defensive line really started to assert their dominance last time out. Caden Curry, Kayden McDonald, and Beau Atkinson all recorded a sack in the victory over Ohio. The sack by Atkinson was his first as a Buckeye after the defensive end transferred from North Carolina in the offseason.
Curry now has two sacks this season, which is tied with Arvell Reese for the team lead.
The most interesting matchup on Saturday is going to be linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles trying to slow down Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and running back Jonah Coleman. Reese and Styles are two of the most athletic linebackers in the country and do a little bit of everything for the Ohio State defense.
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Reese leads the team with 20 tackles, while Styles has been credited with 14 tackles through the first three games of the season.
Even though the Ohio State secondary hasn’t been matching up with high-powered passing attacks over the last two games, they are still one of the most feared groups in the country. Caleb Downs leads the unit, and after recording six tackles against Ohio, the safety surpassed 200 tackles in his college career.
Fellow safety Jaylen McClain is second on the team with 17 tackles, while Davison Igbinosun has added 13 stops through the first three games. Downs and cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. have the two interceptions the Buckeye defense have grabbed so far this season.
Washington’s season at a glance
Washington enters this game with a 3-0 record so far this season. After taking down Colorado State in their season opener, the Huskies beat up on UC-Davis, followed by leaving Pullman with a 59-24 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup last week. The game against the Cougars was actually closer than the final score might indicate, as the Huskies led 31-24 at the end of the third quarter before scoring 28 points in the fourth.
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Head coach Jedd Fisch is in his second season in charge of the program after Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama following Washington’s run to the College Football Playoff Championship Game at the end of the 2023 season. Prior to arriving in Seattle, Fisch spent three years as head coach at Arizona.
Ohio State fans might be familiar with Fisch since he was an assistant coach at Michigan from 2015 to 2016. Last season the Huskies finished with a 6-7 record, losing in the Sun Bowl to Louisville.
Washington’s offense is clicking
So far this season the Washington offense has been impossible to stop. The Huskies have scored on 23 of their 29 possessions, with three of those possessions ending with the team taking a knee to end the half or the game.
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Leading the offense for Washington is quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who has thrown for six touchdowns, while adding another two on the ground. The quarterback is third in the country in yards per attempt, fifth in total offense, and sixth in completion percentage.
Just as important for the Huskies has been Jonah Coleman. After following Fisch from Arizona, the running back is leading the country with 10 touchdowns this season. Coleman’s highest yardage output of the season came in the opener against Colorado State, rushing for 177 yards in the win over the Rams.
The next week against UC-Davis, Coleman found the end zone five times on the ground. Last week, Coleman was more of a threat through the air, hauling in six catches for 104 yards and a score.
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Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate won’t be the only receivers in this game with the potential to be first round picks in the NFL Draft. Denzel Boston is an intriguing prospect since he has size and speed to go along with great hands.
Along with catching 16 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns so far this season, Boston also has a punt return for a touchdown. Aside from Boston, the only other wide receiver to record at least 100 yards receiving this year is Dezmen Roebuck.
The interior of the Washington offensive line will have brothers starting. After spending last season at Oklahoma, right guard Geirean Hatchett returned to Seattle for his senior season. Starting at center will be younger brother Landen Hatchett, who started six games last season.
Left tackle Carver Willis spent the previous five seasons at Kansas State, while right tackle Drew Azzopardi is in his second year with the Huskies after starting his college career at San Diego State. John Mills rounds out the starters on the offensive line, lining up at left guard.
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What to expect from the Huskies defense
The most impactful player on the Washington defense this season has been Alex McLaughlin. The safety is tied for the team lead with 16 tackles, while picking off two passes. Both of those interceptions came in last week’s win over Washington State, with McLaughlin returning one for a touchdown during the scoring explosion in the fourth quarter by the Huskies.
Joining McLaughlin at safety is Makell Esteen, who has 15 tackles and an interception this season. Cornerback Ephesians Prysock is usually around the football, notching three pass breakups. Leroy Butler and Rahshawn Clark have floated between the other starting cornerback spot and the nickelback position through the first three games of 2025.
Much like Ohio State, Washington likes to use a defense that normally only features two linebackers. The Huskies who see the most time on the field at the position are Deven Bryant and Taariq Al-Uqdah. Bryant is tied for the team lead with 16 stops.
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Al-Uqdah sits just behind Bryant with 15 tackles. Last week’s game was certainly a bit strange for Al-Uqdah, who spent three seasons at Washington State before transferring to Washington after last season.
The Huskies have a hard-working defensive line that can cause problems in the backfield if Ohio State’s offensive line isn’t on top of their game. EDGE rusher Jacob Lane tied for the team lead with eight tackles last week, and so far this season has four tackles for loss.
The interior of the defensive line will be occupied by Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei and Bryce Butler. On the opposite end of the line from Lane will be Zach Durfee, who has one sack this year.
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Prediction
We will learn a lot about Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. So far this season the Buckeyes have benefitted from playing in the cozy confines of Ohio Stadium. Now Ohio State will not only hit the road for the first time this season, they have to travel all the way out to the pacific time zone for their Big Ten opener. At least the Buckeyes have handled their business out west, winning six of their last seven games in the time zone since 2007.
How will Julian Sayin handle playing on the road as a starter for the first time? What will Bo Jackson’s workload look like? Is the defense ready for the speed threat that Demond Williams Jr. brings to the table? The answer to these three questions will go a long way in deciding who will win on Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
Washington comes in with a perfect record so far this season, but their strength of schedule hasn’t been anything to write home about. At least the Buckeyes can hang their hat on a win over Texas, who was the top-ranked team in the country entering the regular season.
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Plus, Ohio State did have a bye heading into this game, which has given them extra time to prepare for what they’ll see on the field from the Huskies and the type of noise they’ll face from the Washington fans.
Jedd Fisch has the Washington program headed in the right direction, so there are reasons for Buckeye Nation to be nervous about this game. The difference is Ohio State is used to playing in big games like this, while it might be a little new to the Huskies.
Williams, Coleman, and Boston are a trifecta the Buckeye defense has to be worried about. Although the Washington trio should also be worried about the Ohio State defense since Matt Patricia is a master at disguising coverages.
Not only will the Washington offense have trouble with the schemes Patricia will throw at them, the defense of the Huskies isn’t ready for what they’ll see from Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. This game is going to be a good test for the Buckeyes ahead of some tough Big Ten games over the next two months.
Washington gives a spirited effort early before the Buckeyes go up by double digits in the second half.
