No. 3 Oregon beat No. 2 Oregon 32-31 in a back-and-forth thriller that lived up to the billing as one of the biggest games in Autzen Stadium history. There were seven leads changes, capped by Atticus Sappington making a 19-yard field goal with 1:47 left to give the Ducks a one-point advantage.
The Buckeyes (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) drove into Ducks (6-0, 3-0) territory on their final possession, but time expired when quarterback Will Howard slid after taking off scrambling on third down while attempting to get Ohio State into field goal range.
A signature win for Oregon raises more questions for Ryan Day
Two and half years into his tenure, Oregon coach Dan Lanning has the most significant victory of his career — and the talk about Ryan Day’s ability to deliver in big games for the Ohio State is about to start again.
Give Lanning credit: After coming up short on the biggest stages, most notably a 0-3 record against Washington the past two seasons, he approached the Ohio State game with the same aggressive mentality. After Oregon botched the extra point on its first touchdown, the Ducks went for two on their next touchdown to try to get that point back. With Oregon running out of an unbalanced formation with half the blockers split out wide, the Buckeyes held their ground and stopped Kenyon Sadiq short of the goal line.
After a 15-yard penalty on the Buckeyes was assessed on the ensuing kickoff, Lanning dipped into the bag of tricks again. Sappington drilled an Ohio State player with a bouncing kickoff and the Ducks recovered at the Buckeyes’ 41-yard line. A couple of plays later they had first-and-goal at the 9, but receiver Traeshon Holden drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spitting on Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun.
The Ducks had to settle for a field goal but the stolen possession was key in a back-and-forth game.
Lanning’s aggressive style has backfired in some big games, most notably a regular-season loss last year against Washington when the Ducks went 0-for-3 on fourth downs in what turned out to be a three-point game.
Against the Buckeyes, a fourth-and-inches at Oregon 48 was an obvious go situation for Lanning and the Ducks early in the third quarter, trailing 28-22. Instead of trying to muscle for a first down, a play-action pass to Terrance Ferguson netted 32 yards and set up the Ducks at the Ohio State 20.
A few plays later, Oregon faced a fourth-and-goal at the 2. This time Dillon Gabriel missed a wide-open Tez Johnson on the far side of the field — to be fair, it would have been a long throw — and his pass into the middle of the field fell incomplete.
Still, the decision looked solid when the Ducks got a third-down stop thanks to a dropped snap by Howard and forced an Ohio State punt. The Ducks scored on the ensuing possession to take a 29-28 lead.
As for Day, after losing three consecutive years to Michigan and a Playoff game to Georgia in 2022, Buckeyes fans have not wanted to hear about his .884 overall winning percentage. At times in the games in which Ohio State has fallen short, Day’s decision-making and play calling have been points of contention.
That was part of the reason he brought in former Ducks coach Chip Kelly to be his offensive coordinator. The Buckeyes offense delivered for much of Saturday night, but their loaded defense was sliced up by the Ducks and they fell short on the final drive.
The story of the season for Day is still to be written, but coming up short again in a top-five matchup will give the message boards and talk radio shows in Columbus plenty of material for the next two weeks as the Buckeyes go into an off week. — Ralph Russo
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)
