Oregon St. Headed To The Shoe

Oregon St. has filled out their 2018 schedule, with a season opening trip on Sept. 1 to the Horseshoe, to play Ohio St.

It will set up back to back weekends against the B1G Ten, as after taking on the Buckeyes, the Beavers will return home for a scheduled visit from Minnesota, the return game of the home and home with the Gophers that begins in 2017 (assuming there are no schedule changes or buyouts).

There will be no return trip from the Buckeyes though, as this is a one-off pay-off game, as Ohio St. moves to upgrade their overall schedule for National Championship playoff considerations, where strength of schedule matters. By then, the Big Ten will have gone to a 9 game schedule plus a ban on games against FCS schools.

It's the second game at a traditional Big Ten powerhouse with no return game in the near future, as Oregon St. visits The Big House to face Michigan next Sept. 12.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for our program to play such a traditional power at a fantastic and historical stadium," Oregon St. head coach Mike Riley felt.

The 2018 season will be a "6 and 6" season, with 2 non-conference road games, and 5 conference home games, as it will be a home Civil War year. The Beavers have a trip to Reno to play Nevada scheduled a week after the Minnesota game.

Oregon St. has played Ohio St. twice before, losing both games, both of which were also in Ohio Stadium.  The Buckeyes pounded the Beavers 51-10 on Sept. 21, 1974, and won a much more competitive game 22-14 10 years later, in the 1984 season opener on Sept. 8.

At one point not so long ago, Oregon St. Athletic Director Bob De Carolis promised Beaver Nation there would be no more "body bag" games, road games against a probable power where the opponent does not return the date. That appears to be conveniently forgotten about, with the realization that selling wins is a lot easier than selling his team to his investors.

How do you feel about a road trip game like this?

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com