Ohio State has had four wide receivers drafted in the first round over the last three years. The No. 2 Buckeyes have another one on the way in senior Emeka Egbuka , and maybe their best yet breaking out in true freshman Jeremiah Smith .
Through five games, No. 3 Oregon ranks 18th nationally with 162 passing yards allowed per game. That said, head coach Dan Lanning knows his Ducks squad will have its hands full during Saturday’s top-three showdown in Eugene.
“Yeah, stop go,” Lanning said, when asked Monday about Egbuka and Smith. “They can catch the ball, and they can turn it into a big play right away. It’s not necessarily always average depth of target. It’s way down the field. It’s their ability to catch it in space and get vertical.
“They block really well on the perimeter. And those guys have big catch radiuses. So you see them win on balls that you would call 50-50 balls a lot of times. They win on contested balls, they do a really good job there.”