Recent Ohio State History in Season and Conference Openers

Ohio State has rarely struggled in opening games, and the Buckeyes now enter as sizeable favorites against Nebraska.

With undoubtedly the strangest lead up to a college football season since the turn of the century, Buckeye fans hope things do not become even stranger with an opening-game struggle against visiting Nebraska.

Historically, the Buckeyes have fared well in opening games... extremely well. In fact, Ohio State has not started the season with a loss since 1999 when it fell to the Miami Hurricanes, 23-12, in East Rutherford, N.J. That year, the Bucks finished 6-6 including a three-game skid to end the season.

The Buckeyes have not only won every opening game since that loss to the Hurricanes, but have also done so in convincing fashion. With an average margin of victory of 29 points, Ohio State and its fans have enjoyed some relaxing second halves in such encounters.

Isaiah Prince tackles an Oregon State player during the 2018 opener.

The biggest scare in recent memory? In 2009, the Buckeyes opened their campaign ranked No. 6 in the nation and welcomed the Naval Academy to Columbus for the first time in 78 years.

Trailing most of the game, the Midshipmen cut Ohio State's lead to just two, 29-27, with 2:23 left in the contest. However, Navy's two-point conversion attempt was intercepted by Brian Rolle and taken the other way to secure a still dicey four-point victory... 31-27.

Saturday will also mark the rare occasion that a season opener will coincide with the conference opener. The only time in at least 30 years that the Buckeyes opened the season with a conference foe was actually just a few years back in 2017...

OSU beat Indiana 49-21 in Bloomington behind the offensive trio of J.T. Barrett (304 yards passing), J.K. Dobbins (181 yards rushing) and Parris Campbell (136 yards receiving).

J.T. Barrett slips away from pressure at Indiana in 2017.

Historically, Ohio State is also successful in conference openers by winning the last eight (lost to Michigan State, 10-7, in 2011) and claiming 14 of its last 15 Big Ten opening games.

One thing we can see for sure, the Buckeyes start both seasons and conference seasons on high notes. With the Cornhuskers now being 26-point underdogs to Ohio State’s talent, many expect this trend to continue even despite the weird year of 2020.

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