There are no mincing words from Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal when it comes to describing the talent level of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
He knows full well what the Ducks are going to face come Saturday in Columbus.
“They’re very well coached’ said Cristobal on Monday.
“They know what to do, how to do it, why they’re doing it that way. And they attack you – they’re aggressive. They don’t sit back and kinda hope things happen. Very aggressive in the run game and the pass game. They’re creative,…like I said, they’re well coached.
“Any time you go on the road and you play a great football team nothing but your best is going to be good enough and our guys understand that.”
Admit it, or not, this single game has been circled on the Ducks schedule for more than a year.
Because of the pandemic and shortened season last fall, the Ducks themselves, and the Oregon faithful lost the home matchup with the Buckeyes.
Now, having to go on the road to one of the best home crowds in college football, it’s still a game Cristobal and his team have looked forward to playing since last September.
It’s a matchup that will certainly fill in the blanks of just how far this team has come since Cristobal was tabbed as head coach.
“If you’re a real competitor you always want to test yourself against the very best” explained Cristobal.
“Ohio State’s an elite program top to bottom. Storied program – tremendous history at a place where they’ve had tremendous success. I think if you come to a place like Oregon you come to have opportunities like this understanding the tremendous opportunity it is,…a tremendous challenge it is.
“Just going against the very best. I don’t anyone who’s ever played football, that loves the game for what it is would want anything less than to go up and play against the very best,…so we have that opportunity this week.”
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EYE DISCIPLINE KEY TO HAVING SUCCESS AGAINST THE BUCKEYES
Oregon ( Jr. ) safety Bennett Williams had a solid opening game outing last week against Fresno State.
One might ask how that could be determined since Williams didn’t accrue any meaningful stats during the Ducks 31-24 win.
And therein lies the actual answer.
Fresno State, a team with a pass-first mentality, certainly didn’t test Williams in the areas where he was positioned.
“I noticed that going back and watching film that there wasn’t a lot of action going on” said Williams when asked about his play against the Bulldogs.
“As far as my job, I did what I needed to do. I did well in coverage because I didn’t get tested a lot which I’ll take as a compliment as a DB. Just looking to improve and make the plays that come my way this week.”
OREGON SAFETY BENNETT WILLIAMS DISCUSSES OHIO STATE MATCHUP