Ryan Day had his team bouncing around him in the middle of a pregame mosh pit, and for a brief moment Saturday at Ohio Stadium, it looked like Ohio State had found the kind of spark it had been chasing.
Then Oregon took over, and the image said everything.
The Buckeyes were coming off a loss at USC and staring at the edge of de facto elimination from the College Football Playoff race. Day, in his eighth year, was trying to squeeze one more surge out of a group that badly needed it.
The pregame scene fit that urgency. So did the result that followed: a 41-28 loss that exposed just how much Ohio State needed its coach to drag energy out of it.
That was already hinted at before kickoff. Running back Isaiah West made it plain when he said, “It’s really been coach Day who’s been driving the ship, pushing and telling everybody what’s at stake here.”
The problem for Ohio State was that Oregon kept answering. The Ducks, despite carrying three losses, did not blink when the Buckeyes came out hot. Ohio State did.
The turning point came late in the second quarter, in the stretch Day often calls the middle eight. Oregon was down 14-3, then put together a nine-play scoring drive.
The sequence got a boost from a fake punt right after Jaylen McClain dropped an interception. Ohio State’s next snap brought another swing the wrong way, with freshman quarterback Luke Fahey throwing a pick.
Oregon cashed that in with a five-play touchdown drive and suddenly Ohio Stadium, which had been roaring, went quiet. The Ducks had a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Day told CBS sideline reporter Jenny Dell that the Buckeyes needed to regroup going into the break. Instead, the second half brought more frustration.
Oregon received the opening kickoff and marched to a 24-14 lead. Seven minutes later, it was 31-14.
By then, the crowd was booing as Ohio State kept failing to get into Oregon territory. The Buckeyes also never really got star receiver Jeremiah Smith involved.
As the game slipped away, Day’s sideline energy seemed to fade with it. The animated coach who had been shouting and fist-pumping was left with a puzzled look while his team struggled to show the kind of toughness it had not consistently displayed this season.
That showed up across the board. The offense couldn’t get moving.
The defense watched former OSU commit Dylan Raiola carve it up. Special teams, once again, was part of the problem.
What unfolded was a sharp reminder of what happens when a coach is trying to pull resilience out of a team that doesn’t seem to have enough of it on its own. And with that, the final 12-team College Football Playoff may well move on without Ohio State.
In Other News...
Ohio States Oregon Collapse Exposed A Problem Buckeyes Fans Feared
Ohio States loss to Oregon in Columbus had the feel of a game that started with promise and then slipped away in plain sight. The Buckeyes came out strong, but the rest of the afternoon turned into a reminder that early momentum only matters if it can be sustained, and this one quickly exposed some of the same concerns fans have been carrying for a while. Jeremiah Smith was not used nearly enough, and the offense never seemed to fully settle into a rhythm as the game changed around it.
Luke Faheys performance only added to the unease, while the defense looked far removed from the unit Ohio State expected to lean on in a matchup like this. The bigger frustration, though, was the lack of clear adjustment as Oregon kept finding answers and the Buckeyes did not. For a team with playoff ambitions, a home collapse like this does more than count as one bad result - it raises the kind of questions that can linger well beyond a single Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smiths Frustration Just Raised A Bigger Ohio State Concern
Jeremiah Smiths frustration was hard to miss in Ohio States loss to Oregon, a defeat that left the Buckeyes staring at a tougher path to the playoff. Even in a game that slipped away 41-28, Smith still produced, finishing with seven catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, which only underscored how much Ohio State leaned on him when the offense needed a spark.
The bigger concern now is what his visible irritation might say about the state of the Buckeyes season and how they handle the fallout from a damaging setback. One analyst even raised the possibility that Smith might not play again this year, though that remains unconfirmed, and for a team trying to steady itself after the Oregon loss, any uncertainty around its top playmaker only adds to the pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Just Added Fuel To Indianas CFP Debate
Urban Meyer gave the College Football Playoff debate a fresh jolt by questioning how the committee is sorting Ohio State and Indiana. The former Buckeyes coach pointed to the Buckeyes head-to-head win over Indiana and said he did not understand why No. 12 Ohio State sits eight spots behind No. 4 Indiana, especially when the discussion turns to how teams are being judged beyond the loss column.
Meyer also took aim at the committees handling of nonconference scheduling, arguing that Ohio States ranking does not match what it has shown on the field. Indianas case is strong in its own right at 8-1, with wins over Michigan and Nebraska, but Meyer noted the Hoosiers have not beaten a ranked opponent, leaving the playoff conversation with a familiar tension: rsum versus result, and a gap in the rankings that still needs explaining. [Read more 🡒]