Ohio State football schedule: Ranking the Buckeyes' 2022 opponents

What to expect when Ohio State takes the field in 2022

Ryan Day had his worst season as Ohio State football coach a year ago, and the Buckeyes still finished No. 6 in the Top 25 rankings and lost only two games.

At least half of the Buckeyes' opponents in 2022 should find themselves in the Top 25, and OSU has to play reigning Big Ten West champion Iowa, as well as West Division contender Wisconsin, but both those games are at home.

Ohio State goes on the road against Michigan State and Penn State, but plays its first five games of the season, including against likely Top 10 Notre Dame, at home in Columbus.

As always, it's College Football Playoff or bust for the Buckeyes. What stands between the scarlet and gray and a national championship run?

Scroll through to see what Ohio State will face, with opponents ranked easiest to hardest.

Ohio State football schedule: Ranking the Buckeyes' 2022 opponents

12. Arkansas State

When: Sept. 10

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Whatever hope the Red Wolves have that Butch Jones can revive this program eventually, it didn't happen last year, and it won't happen in time to play Ohio State in the Buckeyes' second tilt of the 2022 schedule. ASU was a two-win team a year ago, one against an FCS squad, and the other UL Monroe. 

11. Toledo

When: Sept. 17

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Toledo was a 7-6 team last fall, but this time around brings back a solid returner at quarterback, some proven production at the skill positions, and a defense that will rank inside the Top 50 nationally. This should be an improved team when it gets into MAC play, but won't have anything like the speed to match up against the Buckeyes' deep threats anywhere on the field.

10. Northwestern

When: Nov. 5

Where: Evanston

What to expect: Just a year removed from playing Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, the Wildcats stumbled through 2021, winning a single game in conference and losing its final six, not scoring more than 14 points in any of them. NU was the league's worst scoring offense and the only team that failed to score at least 200 total points. Predicting what Northwestern will be beforehand is always difficult business, but on paper this team isn't going anywhere.

9. Rutgers

When: Oct. 1

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Rutgers' third-worst scoring offense in the Big Ten was good for just about 19 points each time out last fall, while giving up almost 25 ppg to opponents. Ohio State should have the easy advantage at the line of scrimmage, as the Bucks did a year ago in a 52-13 rout. Noah Vedral should return at quarterback, but he has some real competition in Gavin Wimsatt. If the Knights make a switch there, expect a faster, more mobile offensive attack.

8. Indiana

When: Nov. 12

Where: Columbus

What to expect: What a difference a year made for the Hoosiers, who went from a 12th ranked, 6-2 team to a two-win afterthought. IU was good for just 17 points per game last fall and will lose wide receiver Ty Fryfogle. But it gains Missouri transfer quarterback Conner Bazelak, a 2,500-yard passer, something for first-year coordinator Walt Bell to work with. Indiana put up under 11 ppg in Big Ten games and allowed over 35, not exactly a formula for success.

7. Maryland

When: Nov. 19

Where: College Park

What to expect: This was one of the more productive offenses in the Big Ten last season, good for over 440 yards per game, but the Terps surrendered over 32 points per game against conference foes and still needs help in every phase on that side of the ball. Ohio State has combined for 139 points in its last two against Maryland, but played a nail-biting 52-51 victory last time out in College Park.

6. Iowa

When: Oct. 22

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Iowa returns much of a physical, well-coordinated defense that was Top 25 nationally, but also lost center Tyler Linderbaum and still hasn't figured out how to consistently attack the deep field yet. Ohio State fans don't need reminded of the last time their team met this Big Ten West opponent: the infamous trip to Iowa City in 2017, when OSU's playoff hopes went up in smoke in a 55-24 Hawkeye rout no one saw coming.

5. Penn State

USA Today Images

When: Oct. 29

Where: Happy Valley

What to expect: Sean Clifford is back after a 3,000-yard, 21 TD outing in 2021, but Penn State has major holes to fill a defense that ranked third in scoring in the Big Ten. James Franklin, fresh off that $75 million deal he signed last year, also needs to create a strategy running the ball after finishing second-worst in the conference last season and just lost Noah Cain to LSU. Ohio State has won the last five in this series.

4. Michigan State

When: Oct. 8

Where: East Lansing

Need to know: Ohio State stepped on a rejuvenated Spartans team last fall in a 56-7 rout, and that was with running back Kenneth Walker on the field. He won't be back, but quarterback Payton Thorne is, and he'll have receiver Jaylen Reed going deep again, too. But how well will Mel Tucker have repaired MSU's awful secondary from year to year? The unit was by far the Big Ten's worst in 2021 and ranked 111th in college football.

3. Wisconsin

When: Sept. 24

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Ohio State owns the last eight against the Badgers, including three Big Ten Championship Game wins. Most of Wisconsin's defense — a unit that ranked No. 1 ahead of Georgia in the nation in yards allowed and was second in points surrendered — won't come back in 2022, but with the coaching and talent on offer, it should still be among the best in the conference. Graham Mertz looks like a dud at quarterback, but Braelon Allen is already blossoming into one of the Big Ten's best rushers — the youngster carried for 1,268 yards last season with 12 touchdowns and a nearly seven ypc average.

2. Michigan

When: Nov. 26

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Ohio State will have chances to define its football season in both the first and last games on the regular season schedule. Priority No. 1 since losing in Ann Arbor last season has been and will be righting the wrong that resulted in OSU's first loss to Michigan in eight years. 

Jim Harbaugh is back after flirting with the NFL again, but he has some major surgery to do at running back, offensive line, and defensive line — all the positions that helped win that game against Ohio State last year. And are currently weaknesses that the Buckeyes can exploit in this year's rematch.

1. Notre Dame

When: Sept. 3

Where: Columbus

What to expect: Ohio State kicks off the 2022 football schedule with a home date against a Notre Dame team in the midst of transition but with plenty of talent, if it's a little unproven. First-year coach Marcus Freeman — who played DB at Ohio State — is short on sure things at quarterback, receiver, and running back. The season opener will be a good opportunity for Jim Knowles to show off how he's fine-tuned the Buckeyes' defense, a major weakness last fall, against what could be a Top 10 team.

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