Three of college football’s biggest brands all took it on the chin the same Saturday, and each loss came with its own ugly wrinkle.
Ohio State, Oregon and Oklahoma all stumbled in ways that should have every fan base sweating a little. The Buckeyes let a 20-point lead disappear at Texas.
The Ducks became the first FBS opponent Oklahoma State has beaten in two years. And in Ann Arbor, the Sooners looked about as dangerous throwing the ball as a pre-Wright brothers airplane.
That kind of synchronized mess doesn’t happen often. The last time all three lost on the same day was Nov. 26, 2022, when Ohio State fell to Michigan, Oregon was beaten by Oregon State and Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech. This time, the breakdowns were different, but the result was the same: three prominent programs suddenly staring at problems they can’t ignore.
Ohio State’s collapse was the most jarring because it touched every part of the operation. The Buckeyes led 23-3 and then fell apart on offense, defense and special teams.
Ryan Day wins plenty, but when one of his teams loses, the whole thing can get head-scratching in a hurry. Saturday night fit that pattern.
New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith saw his first major test go sideways over the final four possessions. Quarterback Julian Sayin finished by hitting just two of his last eight throws, and three of those incompletions came while targeting Jeremiah Smith.
Ohio State never found a real second receiver threat behind Smith, either. Senior Brandon Inniss was targeted only twice and caught one pass, while touted freshman Chris Henry Jr. was a non-factor in Austin.
The defense didn’t hold up its end late, either. Arch Manning delivered the best stretch of his college career, especially on a pair of fourth downs, while the Ohio State pass rush vanished.
The Buckeyes did not record a sack over the final 36 minutes, and Manning had a clean pocket in the fourth quarter. Ohio State’s secondary gave him enough room to work through three long touchdown drives, and the run defense also gave up important yards to Hollywood Smothers.
Special teams added another painful twist. Connor Hawkins missed from 45 yards in the fourth quarter, opening the door for Texas to score the winning touchdown. Hawkins had made his first three field goals, but even those successes pointed to a broader issue: Ohio State had left points out there by not finishing drives.
Oregon’s loss was different, but no less alarming. The Ducks somehow failed to do what Tulsa and 20 other FBS opponents have done since Sept. 7, 2024: beat Oklahoma State.
And the Cowboys didn’t need luck to do it. They outplayed Oregon statistically, and Dan Lanning’s rookie coordinators, Chris Hampton on defense and Drew Mehringer on offense, are not getting enough out of the talent on hand.
Hampton’s defense did score on a long pick-six, but it also surrendered 554 yards. That was the most given up by an Oregon defense since Lanning’s first game as head coach, when the opponent was reigning national champion Georgia to open the 2022 season. Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker dropped back 43 times and was never sacked.
The Ducks’ offense has its own issues. Oregon ran the ball 55 times and only one of those carries went for more than 20 yards.
Against Oklahoma State, the Ducks managed 90 rushing yards on 30 attempts. They’ve also been shaky on third down, converting 34.6% of the time, which ranks 15th in the Big Ten, and they’ve been flat-out poor on fourth down, going 0 for 6.
For a team with Dante Moore at quarterback and all the talk that comes with a potential No. 1 NFL pick, that’s not nearly enough.
Oklahoma’s defeat at Michigan brought a different kind of frustration, because the Sooners’ offensive issues were impossible to miss. John Mateer, who was supposed to be a strength, looked like a liability.
His finish was rough: one completion in his final eight passes for three yards, plus an interception that effectively handed the game to Michigan in the fourth quarter. The thumb injury explanation that followed him through the latter part of last season doesn’t apply here. And after rolling over UTEP in the opener, Mateer’s 51.5% accuracy against Michigan was nowhere near good enough.
The bigger issue in Norman is the commitment to Brent Venables. For reasons that are tough to square, Oklahoma gave him his second contract extension in four seasons in August. He is now making $10 million while winning 61.1% of his games, a rate that sits below Gary Gibbs and well under the Stoops-Switzer-Wilkinson-Riley-Fairbanks standard.
The schedule won’t make life easier. Oklahoma still has five ranked teams left, including four in the top 10.
Even so, Venables is not the one who will pay the price if this season unravels. He’s too expensive.
There’s still a long way to go for all three programs, and each one will have chances to rebound with quality wins. But one bad Saturday can plant a crisis fast, and Ohio State, Oregon and Oklahoma all have one now.
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