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Ohio State Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2019 season

By Jake Mitchell

COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 08: Acting head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes looks on before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Ohio Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 08: Acting head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes looks on before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Ohio Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – NOVEMBER 03: Head Coach Luke Fickell of the Cincinnati Bearcats takes the team onto the field before the game against the Navy Midshipmen at Nippert Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – NOVEMBER 03: Head Coach Luke Fickell of the Cincinnati Bearcats takes the team onto the field before the game against the Navy Midshipmen at Nippert Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell will make his return to Columbus in this matchup. He left Ohio State in 2017 to take the Bearcats’ head job, after being a Buckeye since 2002.

This team has taken on the image of the head coach. Fickell is a defensive coach, and Cincinnati was a defensive team in 2018. They ranked first in the AAC in scoring, rushing, total defense. The scoring defense snuck into the top ten nationally.

This will be an early test for Justin Fields and this Ohio State offense that features so many new faces. Fickell and Bearcat defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman will have this defense locked in for this week two matchup.

Prediction: Win (2-0)

The Bearcats started the year with six straight victories, and had two wins over Power Five teams. Fickell’s Cincinnati team is certainly no pushover, but Ohio State is so talented that they can make it look that way.

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