Rapid reaction: No. 12 Oregon holds on late to upend No. 3 Ohio State

No. 3-ranked Ohio State had never lost a regular season game under 3rd-year coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes hadn’t lost at home since 2017, when they dropped their home opener to No. 5 Oklahoma. Saturday afternoon’s matchup with No. 12 Oregon flew in the face of recent history, as the Ducks used a power running game and a bend-but-don’t-break defense to stun Ohio State 35-28.

For the 2nd consecutive week, OSU’s porous run defense put the team in a vulnerable situation in a game in which the Buckeyes opened as a double-digit favorite. A year after OSU defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs’s defense was vulnerable to the pass (3 400+ yard passing games in an 8-game season), the Buckeyes allowed over 200 rushing yards (269 was the Ducks’ final total) for the second consecutive game and, by failing to stop the run, may have imperiled their spot in the College Football Playoff.

Ohio State’s defense finally got some stop late, giving the offense 2 chances to drive for a tying score. The second one ended with CJ Stroud throwing an interception while rolling to his right. It was the 1st INT of the day and 2nd of his career for the RS freshman.

In his second start at QB, CJ Stroud was rock-solid most of the way, passing for over 470 yards (making him the first OSU freshman to top 400 passing yards), and finding both Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson early and often (each of them surpassed 100 receiving yards by the middle of the fourth quarter). Jaxson Smith-Njigba also topped the 100-mark receiving. OSU’s ground game wasn’t bad either, with both Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson churning out 4-5 yards per carry throughout the game.

In all, the OSU offense racked up more than 600 yards.

The problem was the defense.

OSU allowed Oregon to rush for well over 200 yards on the ground, and also saw Boston College transfer Anthony Brown complete several piovtal downfield passes — doing so without even being pressured for most of the game. OSU’s yards-per-carry allowed hung around 8 for most of the game, and the Buckeyes were unable to generate a meaningful pass rush or contain the edge against the run.

The teams both moved the ball in a scoreless first quarter that saw OSU turn the ball over on downs at the Oregon 31 after driving from its own 25, and then punt from the Oregon 34 after driving the ball from their own 5. Oregon took over after that possession and drove 99 yards for a touchdown, with the final 14 yards coming on a run from featured running back CJ Verdell that gave the Ducks a 7-0 edge with 14:27 to play in the first half. OSU immediately answered with its own scoring drive, reaching the end zone on a pass from Stroud to Wilson from 27 yards out. Noah Ruggles’s extra point tied the game at 7 with 8:42 to go in the half. Undaunted, Oregon followed with another touchdown drive, hitting a 4th-and-1 pass from former Brown to Verdell for 14 yards and a score. That play gave Oregon a 14-7 edge with 4:51 in the half — an advantage which Oregon took to the halftime locker room.

On the third play of the second half, Oregon served notice of the potency of its offense, as led by former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. On that play, Verdell broke a run through the heart of the OSU defense and found only green grass ahead of him, taking the ball 77 yards to extend Oregon’s advantage to 21-7 in the opening moments of the second half. Ohio State followed that drive with a speedy score of its own, with Stroud connecting with Jaxson Smith-Njigba from 25 yards out to cut the edge to 21-14.

That pattern would hold throughout the second half. Oregon answered with a drive that culminated in a 5-yard scoring run for Travis Dye, putting the Ducks up 28-14 with 7:38 to play in the third quarter. OSU pulled back to within a single score again on TreVeyon Henderon’s first Buckeyes touchdown run, this one from 2 yards out, that made it a 28-21 game with 12:54 to play.

Once again, Oregon was unfazed, with Brown hitting a 30 yard pass to Spencer Webb and ending the drive with a 14 yard scoring pass to Moliki Matavao that extended Oregon’s lead to 35-21 with 10:10 to play. OSU answered with a drive culminating in a 4th-down scoring pass covering 15 yards from Stroud to Smith-Njigba with 7:55 left in the game.

The 1-1 Buckeyes will face Tulsa next Saturday. OSU’s 22-game conference win streak is still intact, although after a pair of 2021 games, that run of dominance looks somewhat shaky.

Joe Cox

Veteran college writer Joe Cox covers Ohio State and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.