The defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes look primed for another successful season in 2025. Games against Penn State and the season opener versus Texas are obvious possible losses, but what about potential slip up spots?
Every year top teams in the country struggle against far inferior opponents. Just last season we saw multiple occurrences of the trap game resulting in massive upsets with Vanderbilt defeating Alabama and Northern Illinois taking down Notre Dame. With that in mind, here are the possible trap game spots for Ohio State in 2025.
Week 5 at Washington (Sept 27)
Anytime a Big Ten team has to travel far out west, or vice versa, it is a potential trap game. On top of that, Washington has the potential to be a surprise team this season with their backfield duo of young stud quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and Jonah Coleman returning at running back.
Husky Stadium is a very tough place to play and Washington has not lost at home since November 2021. This marks the second longest active home winning streak in college football at 20. I would not be surprised to see the Buckeyes in a close game, or even lose, in this early conference matchup against a Washington team that could be viewed very differently by the end of the season.
Week 8 at Wisconsin (Oct 18)
It feels like every year that these two teams meet, it is viewed as a potential upset spot for Wisconsin to pick up that long overdue big win. But the Buckeyes have not let that happen, winning ten straight and often by a wide margin.
However this year’s matchup has the perfect recipe for a trap game. Ohio State will be coming off a big one against what should be a highly ranked Illinois team. They’ll then go on the road to take on the Badgers where they could be looking ahead to the bye week that follows, or even the biggest game of their season against Penn State which comes after that.
Week 11 at Purdue (Nov 8)
This one is a real longshot, but it is impossible to forget the 2018 matchup when the Boilermakers pounded the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes in West Lafayette. Purdue has the chance to be a frisky team this season with new head coach Barry Odom and a boat load of transfers. I would be shocked if this one came to fruition but Ohio State will be coming off that Penn State game and Purdue does tout an impressive 5-4 home record against the Big Ten power since 2000.