Can you believe it Buckeye fans? We’re less than 20 days from Ohio State football with full stadiums in the fall. Ohio State opens on a Thursday night, which seems odd. However, then you remember, 2019 was the last time we watched OSU football with capacity crowds and suddenly you don’t care anymore.
The Bucks will head to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota on September 2. The Gophers are a curious bunch. After a breakout season in 2019 under P.J. Fleck, the team seemed to take a step backward in 2020. Maybe it was COVID-19 related, maybe it wasn’t.
While Minnesota may have the best running back in the Big Ten in Mohamed Ibrahim, the Gophers will possibly be without their top wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell when they face the Buckeyes. The Minnesota wideout sustained what appeared to be a knee injury in practice late this past week.
Chris Autman-Bell is Minnesota's top returning receiver, so this would be a big loss for Ohio State's season-opening opponent if he misses time. https://t.co/EOux27N6Zg
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 13, 2021
While the severity of the injury is unknown, Autman-Bell was helped off the field and his availability is questionable for September 2 at this time. It’s even bigger news potentially because Minnesota lost their No. 1 receiver to the NFL draft in Rashod Bateman. Autman-Bell was second on the team with 22 catches for 430 yards, while the other returning receivers combined for just 21 receptions total.
We’ll have a full breakdown leading up to the game in our weekly preview and prediction on the Monday before the matchup.
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