Dan Lanning didn’t just coach Oregon into the game against Ohio State. He yanked it back with a pair of fearless calls that flipped the whole night.
The No. 12 Buckeyes jumped out fast and looked in control after one quarter, building a 14-0 lead while Oregon’s offense struggled to find anything at all. The Ducks finally got on the board with a field goal early in the second quarter, but they were still staring at a 14-3 deficit and had done little to suggest a comeback was coming.
Then Lanning and offensive play-caller Jay Johnson leaned into the kind of aggression that has defined Oregon over the last five seasons.
With 3:06 left before halftime, the Ducks were facing what looked like a routine punt after a one-yard run and two incompletions. Instead, they dialed up a fake. Edge rusher Teitum Tuioti took the snap and flipped it to fellow edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, who hurdled a defender and turned the play into a 30-yard first down.
That was the spark. Oregon’s offense cashed it in with its first touchdown, trimming the margin to 14-10. Then the defense piled on, with true freshman safety Devin Jackson coming down with a toe-tap interception near the Oregon 40-yard line to give the Ducks the ball back with 1:06 remaining in the half.
From there, Oregon kept pressing. A 31-yard pass from Dylan Raiola to running back Brandon Smith set the Ducks up at the Ohio State 2-yard line with two seconds left. Rather than settle for a field goal, Lanning stayed aggressive.
Oregon lined up in a three-linemen formation, and tight end Jamari Johnson powered in for his first career rushing touchdown. That gave the Ducks a 17-14 lead at halftime and left Ohio State reeling.
“This formation and this call 🔥No. 23 @oregonfootball scores on the final play of the first half at No. 12 Ohio State.Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/s6HuZSwPz2”
Lanning had talked earlier in the week about how Oregon’s third loss changed the way the staff approached things.
“You think back to the UCLA game, and you're like, man, this is a game that if we didn't have seven turnovers or six turnovers or five turnovers, we're in position to have success in the game,” he said during his Monday press conference. “And I think that moments like that make you coach different. Because you're like, all right, if we just protect the ball, we don't make mistakes, we're gonna win.”
“And that's not always reality. You have to be true to your identity.
And I feel like there was moments in that UCLA game, in Illinois, that we weren't true to our identity,” he added. “I think that let our players play a little more free, let them do what they do, and again, not so much concerned about outcomes, but the best possibilities are created in moments where you're able to say, okay, I'm going to make a decisive decision and attack it and go play.”
Oregon’s edge in this matchup is simple: with three losses already, it has less to lose and plenty to gain. The first College Football Playoff rankings give the Ducks a path forward if they can leave Columbus with a win.
Ohio State, meanwhile, carries the heavier burden. The Buckeyes need to beat Oregon at home to keep their CFP hopes alive.
Oregon also settled down after the early worry about ball security. The Ducks opened the third quarter with another touchdown, pushing their run to 24 unanswered points.
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