Ohio State will win opener easily -- and there is value to starting that way

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Should we sleep on Oregon State in that Opener? Who should we know of?

I'll logout & take your feedback offline. 😂#GoBucks

— KINGDOM JEFF ❤️🏈🏹💛 (@Magic_Mahomes) June 25, 2018

There is just no way to look at Oregon State as anything other than a punching back for Ohio State to warm up with when this interminable offseason ends and the real football begins again. The Beavers are one of the worst teams in America, appear to be starting over essentially from scratch with their roster and probably won’t have even a single position where they can match up with the machine Urban Meyer has built. Maybe that sounds a bit too harsh to Oregon State fans, but there are a lot of reasons the Buckeyes are favored to win the opener in the Horseshoe by 38 points.

So, there won’t be any attempt here to convince people not to sleep on that first opponent. And it certainly won’t make my list of possible upset alerts for Ohio State. But that doesn’t mean it should just be overlooked entirely, not that there was much danger of that anyway with so many folks in scarlet and gray clamoring for a look at Dwayne Haskins leading the attack.

More than anything, the official starts of the Haskins Era for the Buckeyes is going to make that likely blowout appointment viewing no matter what. After all the debate about who would definitively replace J.T. Barrett during the spring, speculation about whether or not the quarterback runs will be scaled back and now the couple months of hype now that Haskins is the guy, the redshirt sophomore will get his chance to put his stamp on the attack. Even if that Saturday becomes nothing more than a glorified scrimmage, the Buckeyes are playing a team from a Power Five league, the score counts and they will get the best shot possible from Oregon State. Haskins is going to get valuable reps and experience, and those should never be discounted.

Beyond that, Nick Bosa’s bid to become a No. 1 overall draft pick and maybe a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy will be launched. Ohio State will get to start tinkering with the workload for the loaded backfield with J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber returning to carry the ground game. If a couple position battles like at middle linebacker or safety don’t have clear, definitive winners, Ohio State should be afforded an opportunity to carry the competition over into the season with an eye on the first real test in Week Three down in Dallas against TCU.

Plus, there’s a new bonus available with Meyer now able to play freshmen in up to four games without them losing a redshirt. Might the first game of the year be a chance to see some members of the vaunted 2018 signing class to gauge whether or not they even need a redshirt?

All of those things will make for an informative return to action for Ohio State, regardless of the level of competition. Plus, most simply, it’s football again after months without it. But there are a lot of reasons for Ohio State fans to be looking forward to the game, even if the Beavers aren’t one of them.

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