The Ohio State football team will leave Columbus five times during the regular season. They will head on road trips to Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, and Michigan.
Normally, it seems that schedules are either "loaded," or "light." In the case of Ohio State's road games, however, it seems that the schedule is finally balanced.
The road slate starts off with a trip to Indiana to see the Hoosiers. Indiana has not beaten the Buckeyes since 1991, and Ohio State has won 23 straight games during that time. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 74-12-5.
In the game last year between these two teams, Ohio State won 49-23 behind 455 yards and six touchdowns from quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
This year, the game will be a little different. Both teams will feature good quarterback play, with the Hoosiers going with Peyton Ramsey and/or Jack Tuttle, and the Buckeyes featuring extremely highly-touted transfer Justin Fields. It will be a much tougher game against an Indiana crowd which, like always, will treat this game like the Super Bowl.
After a home game against Miami (OH), the Buckeyes will go on the road again to Lincoln, Nebraska, wherein lies one of the most raucous crowds in college football.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will be flying high into the season, with a lot of hope for Scott Frost in his second season at the helm. Last year, the Cornhuskers were weak out of the gate but came on strong towards the end, even almost knocking off Ohio State in Columbus.
This year, the Buckeyes will have to travel west into Lincoln into an almost certain night game environment and if Scott Frost can win, it's his first signature victory as the head coach of his alma mater... oh boy, the storylines will be flowing that week.
Again, following a home game, this time against Michigan State (another night game), the Buckeyes will play one of those darn Friday games in Evanston against Northwestern.
The Ohio State Buckeyes football game next year against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., will be played on Friday, Oct. 18. The two schools jointly announced the date change it was scheduled for Oct. 19 today.
— Jerry Emig (@BuckeyeNotes) December 18, 2018
As you can see, the game was originally scheduled for the Saturday but due to the Big Ten's insistence on going with short weeks and playing on a Friday every once in a while, that's what the Buckeyes will have to deal with.
This game wouldn't normally sound too tricky—after all, the Buckeyes just beat Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game—but I wouldn't put anything past the Wildcats on a cold Friday night in their home stadium. This has trap written all over it for Ohio State.
Again, after a few home games (the Buckeyes don't play back-to-back road games at all this year), Ohio State will travel to Rutgers for a clash with the Scarlet Knights. These games have not been close whatsoever since Rutgers joined the Big Ten, and there isn't really much reason to think that this one will be close either. It should be a blessing when Ohio State gets Rutgers on the road, because its basically a free road win. I do like these guys, though.
Long day for the fellas on Rutgers touchdown cannon duty, huh @KirkHerbstreit? pic.twitter.com/5gV11Hu5yO
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 25, 2015
Finally, the Buckeyes will head up to the Big House over Thanksgiving weekend for the biannual clash in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines.
Once again, all the talk leading up to the game will revolve around Jim Harbaugh's inability to beat Ohio State at all, and this is one of his last chances to do so. Ryan Day will be a head coach in the game for the first time, with Urban Meyer out of the picture. Harbaugh will have his guys motivated at home, as this will be their best chance to take down a young Ohio State team. Can they finally take advantage of it? Who knows. That's why we watch.
It's going to be a fun and entertaining road slate this year.
