Saturday’s Ohio Stadium showdown has shifted from a September showcase into something far less forgiving: a College Football Playoff survival test for both No. 23 Oregon and No. 12 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes and Ducks enter the afternoon meeting in Columbus with identical pressure hanging over them, and both teams are dealing with the same kind of problem that can change a season in a hurry. Each has lost its starting quarterback, and neither has been able to cruise through the fallout.
Oregon opened the year at No. 2, but the Ducks have had to move on from Dante Moore after he suffered a concussion in a late September win over USC. Moore was later ruled out for the rest of the season, and Dylan Raiola has stepped in.
The results since then have been uneven. Oregon dropped games to UCLA and Illinois, then bounced back with a ranked win over Northwestern.
Ohio State’s situation has followed a similar path. The Buckeyes were No. 1 to start the season, but they lost Julian Sayin in a win over No.
4 Indiana. Sayin has not been officially ruled out for the season, but he is “out indefinitely” and not expected to return during the regular season.
Ryan Day said Thursday that Sayin is on a “good track” to recovery.
That leaves Ohio State leaning on true freshman Luke Fahey. Fahey was serviceable in last week’s 30-18 loss to USC, but the Buckeyes will need more from him against Oregon.
Even so, the bigger issue against the Trojans was the defense, not the young quarterback. There is at least some help on the way there, with starting defensive back Jay Timmons expected back after missing the USC game.
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 🡒]