Disaster is the only word that really fits what Ohio State just put on tape in its 41-28 loss to Oregon.
The Buckeyes were undone by bad play in every phase, and there wasn’t much room to argue otherwise. This wasn’t one of those games where a single mistake snowballed into a loss. It was the whole operation.
Stock Up
Nothing
There’s no way around it: Ohio State had no real stock-up candidates against the Ducks. Last week, the run game, Connor Hawkins and Jeremiah Smith were the best the Buckeyes could offer in a 30-18 loss to USC, and even that felt like a stretch. This time, there wasn’t even a stretch.
Jeremiah Smith finished with seven catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, but most of that production came in garbage time. Jackson scored two touchdowns, yet he also managed just 11 carries for 48 yards. Mark Pantoni had a loaded list of recruits visiting, but this is a football story, and on the field the Buckeyes were flat-out embarrassing.
So there’s nothing to put in this section for Ohio State.
Georgia
The national pick still belongs here, and this week it’s Georgia after the Bulldogs surged to No. 1 in the country by hammering then-No. 10 Ole Miss, 42-7.
Georgia is now 8-1 overall and 6-1 in SEC play, with its only loss coming at Auburn, 27-24.
Outside of that setback, the Bulldogs have the look of the top team in the nation. Gunner Stockton, Dwight Phillips Jr., Chris Cole and KJ Bolden have Georgia positioned like a real national title threat.
Stock Down
Everything
This was the same answer last week, and it applies again. Ohio State had a game where almost nothing went right and plenty went wrong.
If there were three areas that stood out most, they were the ones that kept dragging the Buckeyes deeper into the mess.
Fight
The special teams breakdown was brutal. Ohio State allowed a fake punt when Teitum Tuioti hit Matayo Uiagalelei for 30 yards, and that felt like the moment the game slipped away for good.
Oregon then ripped off 38 unanswered points and controlled all three phases. Once the Ducks moved ahead 17-14, the Buckeyes never really recovered. Oregon was better on offense, defense and special teams, and from there it was cruise control.
The sideline and the aftermath told the story too. Ohio State players looked drained, and the loss to Oregon stood out as the most demoralizing moment in Columbus since losing to Michigan at home in 2024.
At this point, the Buckeyes are playing for pride and for a win over Michigan to secure gold pants, which remains a must-win game. But if the effort from this one carries over, things could get ugly fast.
Roster construction
Ohio State made its transfer-portal plan pretty clear: bring in older players with proven production.
The problem is that, based on this season, those additions haven’t really changed the ceiling of the team.
Ja’Kobi Jackson worked out on offense before getting sidelined since the Maryland game. Christian Alliegro and Earl Little Jr. have been excellent on defense. John Walker, James Smith, Devin McCuin and others have contributed, but none of them have lifted the overall quality of the roster.
That has left Ohio State playing transfers because it invested in them financially and expected them to be on the field. The downside is that younger players have seen less time, even if they might have more upside.
The rest of the season
Ohio State likely won’t reach the Big Ten Championship Game and likely won’t make the College Football Playoff.
That means two of the program’s three annual goals are probably out of reach. Beating Michigan is now the one that matters most, because without that, the season is a complete failure.
The Buckeyes have three games left: Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan. Those are also the final three games with Jeremiah Smith, so it’s worth appreciating them while they last.
After the season, there should be changes on the staff, along with players entering the portal and others coming in. That’s still down the road, though. For now, it’s only the second week of November, and fans are already looking ahead to what the program will look like next year, which says plenty about where things stand in Columbus.
Miami
Miami’s stock also took a hit, even if the Hurricanes remain very much in the national title conversation.
They dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 after losing Catholics vs. Convicts, 31-24, to Notre Dame.
Miami is still dangerous and still the favorite to win the ACC, but with Malachi Toney sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Hurricanes aren’t quite as threatening as they were before.
In Other News...
Ohio State Just Exposed A Problem Bigger Than One Loss
Ohio State came out sharp against Oregon, jumping ahead 14-0 in the first quarter and still holding a 14-3 edge late in the first half. Then the game tilted hard, with Oregon scoring 38 straight points and flipping the matchup with a fake punt, turnovers and a surge that left the Buckeyes chasing the rest of the way.
The loss does not close the door on Ohio States bigger goals, since the Buckeyes still control a path to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff if they take care of the games left on their schedule. But the way this one unraveled raised the kind of questions that linger beyond a single defeat, especially around quarterback play and whether the teams effort can stay steady when the game turns against it. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Saw Why This Freshman Could Change Everything
Anthony Thompson gave Ohio State a glimpse of what its freshman class might become in the first half against Marshall, scoring 10 points and helping steady the Buckeyes in an 84-74 win. With the schedule about to stiffen, that kind of early contribution matters even more for a team still trying to sort out its rotation and build the kind of chemistry that can hold up against better competition.
LJ Smiths scoreless night showed the other side of the freshman learning curve, and Ohio States defensive issues were also hard to ignore. The Buckeyes now turn to a much tougher test against fourth-ranked UConn, where the margin for growth will shrink quickly and the need for both freshmen to keep developing will be impossible to miss. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Is Running Out Of Time To Fix A Costly Problem
Ohio State has made a clear move to address one of the seasons most frustrating issues, parting ways with special teams coordinator Robby Discher after nine games in 2026. The Buckeyes turned to Rob Keys as the interim coordinator for the rest of the year, while Matt Guerrieri and James Laurinaitis will help steer the punt and kickoff units, giving Ryan Day a reshuffled staff as the team tries to steady a phase that has repeatedly hurt it.
Day said there will not be any more coaching changes before the next game, but the evaluation process is still ongoing. That leaves Ohio State in a familiar late-season spot: trying to clean up a costly problem quickly, with limited time to see whether the new arrangement can bring order to a unit that has already given away too many damaging moments. [Read more 🡒]