Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Tim Capurso

Ohio State Player Doesn't Think Any Team 'Can Hang' With the Buckeyes

Ohio State continues to bulldoze its way through the program's national championship defense in 2025, as the Buckeyes, after a quiet first quarter, rolled to a 34-10 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday. It was the Buckeyes' 13th straight victory—dating back to last season—and its ninth win of the 2025 season, keeping the Buckeyes undefeated and ticketed to remain atop the College Football Playoff rankings for a second straight week.

It was also the eighth straight time the Buckeyes have won by double digit points this season. It begs the question: can anyone beat Ohio State?

Buckeyes junior cornerback Jermaine Mathews, for one, doesn't seem to think so.

"I really think nobody in the country can really hang with us, in my opinion," Mathews said, via Dan Hope on X. "I think if we just go out there every Saturday and play our game, we won't have too much to worry about."

Ohio State steamrolling through schedule but a familiar test awaits

A skeptic would look at the Buckeyes‘s 2025 schedule and point to the fact that the program hasn't truly been tested yet. And aside from a hard-fought, season-opening win over a Texas team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, that has largely been the case. Since the victory over the Longhorns, the Buckeyes have played just one team ranked inside the top-25—Illinois—and are the only team in the FBS to have not trailed at any point in the second half this season.

But the Buckeyes, after playing games against UCLA and Rutgers, will await a familiar test in its final contest of the season on Nov. 29: The Game. Ohio State will take on its bitter rival, Michigan, to close out the season. And if recent history is to be taken into consideration, the Buckeyes can expect a tough game at Michigan Stadium. After all, it's what occurred just last season, when the one-loss Buckeyes were stunned by an unranked Wolverines team.

The Buckeyes will look to continue taking care of business against the Bruins next Saturday.


More College Football on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ohio State Player Doesn't Think Any Team 'Can Hang' With the Buckeyes.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.