If you only looked at the box score, Luke Fahey’s day against Oregon might have seemed strong enough to keep Ohio State in the fight. The true freshman completed 36 of 50 passes for 360 yards, and all three numbers were program records for a true freshman in a single game. Pro Football Focus still tagged him with a 72.6 overall grade, which tells part of the story - but not the part that decided the game.
That’s where the Buckeyes’ loss starts to look a lot uglier. Ohio State’s offense had chances to stay on schedule, and Fahey couldn’t finish three straight drives when the pressure tightened.
Down 24-14 with a little more than 8:00 left in the third quarter, the Buckeyes faced 4th-and-2 from their own 42-yard line. Fahey missed Devin McCuin on a short throw to the left side, and the ball was too far inside for McCuin to have any shot at it.
Oregon cashed in the short field with a touchdown and pushed the margin to 31-14.
The next possession went nowhere in almost the same way. Ohio State again found itself in 4th-and-2, and Fahey couldn’t connect with Jeremiah Smith on a short throw to the right.
Then came the final blow on the next series. Early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State went for it on 4th-and-8 from its own 26-yard line, and Fahey was sacked for a 13-yard loss.
Oregon took over at the Ohio State 13-yard line, and three plays later the Ducks had stretched the lead to 38-14. By then, the fans were already heading for the exits.
PFF’s grades for the game showed a Buckeye team with a few bright spots and a lot of uneven work. TJ Alford stood out as the top defender, while Will Smith Jr. and Luke Montgomery also landed in the top three overall. Montgomery was the lone offensive player among the three highest-graded Buckeyes with at least 10 snaps.
Alford’s grade of 77.7 made him Ohio State’s top tackler at 80.5, best run defender at 79.6 and best overall player against Oregon. He also owns the defense’s best season-long marks, checking in at 88.3 overall and 84.4 against the run. It was the first time this season Alford finished as Ohio State’s highest-graded player overall, and it was the third time he cracked the Top Three.
Smith Jr. followed with a 77.2 overall grade. A 78.7 run-defense mark helped him get there, and it was the second time this year he finished as Ohio State’s second-best player in a game.
Montgomery rounded out the top three at 76.8, and for the first time this season an offensive lineman cracked the list. He led the Buckeyes in pass blocking at 83.2 and run blocking at 79.3.
The rest of the position-by-position grades showed a mixed bag. On offense, Fahey’s 72.6 led the quarterbacks, Legend Bey posted a 71.8 overall grade on just seven snaps, and Bo Jackson was next among the backs at 67.5.
Jeremiah Smith led the receivers at 64.9, with Chris Henry Jr. close behind at 64.7. Up front, Montgomery topped the line, followed by Austin Siereveld at 67.7 and Phillip Daniels at 62.7.
On defense, Eddrick Houston led the tackles with a 75.2, while Devin Sanchez paced the corners at 75.7. Earl Little Jr. and Jaylen McClain were the top two safeties, grading at 69.5 and 65.5, respectively.
There were also a few notable low points. Christian Alliegro, who played 48 snaps, finished as the lowest-graded Buckeye with qualifying snaps at 45.0.
He also had the team’s worst tackling grade at 28.4 and coverage grade at 40.0. Carson Hinzman was the lowest-graded offensive player with qualifying snaps at 51.4.
Khary Wilder posted the lowest raw grade on the roster at 35.9, though he played only two snaps and did not meet the 10-snap minimum.
Jay Timmons’ 63.7 was Ohio State’s best pass-rush grade, which says plenty about how little heat the Buckeyes got on Dylan Raiola. Meanwhile, Legend Bey made the most of his limited work, posting the team’s best rushing grade at 69.2 and the top overall mark among running backs.
For the season, Jeremiah Smith remains Ohio State’s best player in the passing game at 92.1 and its best offensive player overall at 92.0.
In Other News...
Ohio State Fans Have A New Reason To Worry About Legend Bey
Legend Bey arrived at Ohio State with some buzz, but his first season has not gone the way many Buckeyes fans hoped. The freshman running back has seen limited playing time, and his path has already been complicated by a suspension early in fall camp. Even with the season moving along, Bey has not been able to carve out much of a role in a backfield that has been difficult to crack.
Bey added another layer of uncertainty this week by posting a cryptic message on social media, which naturally sparked concern about where things stand. Nothing official has been announced, and there is no confirmation that he is entering the transfer portal, but the timing of the post is enough to make people around the program pay attention. For a player still trying to find his footing, and for a fan base watching the running back room closely, it is the kind of development that raises more questions than answers. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Makes Another Special Teams Change After Costly Problems Persist
Ohio State has moved on from special teams coordinator Robby Discher after the 2026 season, another sign that the Buckeyes are still searching for answers in a phase of the game that never quite stabilized. Discher was hired in January with the expectation that he would help clean up a unit that had become a recurring concern, but the same issues kept surfacing, from kickoff and punt return troubles to penalties and miscues in important moments.
Head coach Ryan Day has already acknowledged the problems and made clear the responsibility does not rest with Discher alone, which suggests this is as much about broader accountability as it is about one staffing change. For a program with Ohio States standards, special teams has become too familiar a source of frustration, and the latest move only adds to the sense that more adjustments could still be coming. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Owns Ohio State Collapse As Pressure Builds Fast
Ohio States latest setback was the kind that lingers, because it began with control and ended with a collapse. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 14-0 lead against Oregon, then watched the Ducks reel off 38 unanswered points as the offense stalled and the game slipped away, leaving Ohio State at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play.
Ryan Day did not try to soften the aftermath. He acknowledged the teams problems on offense, where the Buckeyes have struggled to find consistent production on the ground and through the air, and said coaching changes, play calling and personnel adjustments are all under consideration. With the season moving deeper into November, the pressure around the program is only getting louder, and the next steps now matter as much as the loss itself. [Read more 🡒]