Ohio State will end Washington's home winning streak

Ohio State will end Washington's home winning streak By Jim Naveau jnaveau@limanews.com Ten things to look for in Ohio State's football game at Washington on Saturday: … How will the Buckeyes react to their first road game of the season? It's almost like a second opener for Ohio State's first-year starters. Quarterback Julian Sayin and the other young Buckeyes weren't perfect in their wins over Texas, Grambling and Ohio at home, but for the most part they looked comfortable. … Does Washington's 22-game winning streak at home mean Husky Stadium gives the Huskies a home field advantage? Washington (3-0) has beaten five ranked teams during that 22-game streak but none of them were ranked as high as No. 1 OSU (3-0) this season. The streak began in the 2022 season, which included wins at home over No. 11 Michigan State and No.23 Oregon State. In 2023, when Washington (14-1) was national runner-up, it beat No. 8 Oregon and No. 18 Utah at home. The Huskies' big home win in 2024 was beating No. 10 Michigan. Washington has claimed that it has the loudest stadium in college football since 1992 when crowd noise at one of its games was measured at 133.6 decibels. … How well will Ohio State's defense play against a dual threat quarterback. Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. has passed for 778 yards and 6 touchdowns and is the Huskies' No. 2 rusher with 220 yards and 2 touchdowns and has not thrown an interception. Barring injury, he will be the first dual threat QB that OSU's defense has had to deal with for a whole game. Ohio's Parker Navarro was supposed to provide that test for the Buckeyes but an injury early in that game limited him to 94 yards passing and 3 yards rushing. … Can Washington's defense contend with Ohio State's receivers – Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and several pass catching tight ends? Injuries to two important defensive starters might factor into that equation. Washington's best linebacker, Taariq Al-Uqdah, suffered an apparent knee injury in a 59-24 win over Washington State last week and is not expected to play. And starting cornerback Tacario Davis did not play last week because of an injury. … Will having two weeks to work on its red zone offense because of a bye week make Ohio State more efficient inside the 20-yard line after being tied for No. 70 nationally in that category after its first three games? … Will back-up OSU quarterback Lincoln Kienholz get into the game against the team he was committed to for six months before flipping to Ohio State from Washington in December 2023? … Can Washington's No. 1 receiver Denzel Boston, son of former Ohio State star David Boston, get some help from the Huskies' other receivers? Boston has 16 catches. Running back Jonah Coleman is second on the team with 8 catches and no other receiver has more than 6 receptions. … Can OSU freshman running back Bo Jackson rush for more than 100 yards for a third game in a row or will CJ Donaldson or James Peoples lead the Buckeyes' running game this week? … Is Washington a better team than it was last season when it had a 6-7 record or are wins over Colorado State, UC-Davis and Washington State to start this season not overly impressive? … How many minutes into CBS' telecast of the game will it be before the fact that some of the fans arrived on boats or tailgated on boats is mentioned? The prediction: Ohio State 31, Washington 13.