A week ago, Ohio State and Oregon looked like they were headed toward a heavyweight showdown with very different energy. Now the Ducks are the ones arriving with momentum, and the Buckeyes are trying to shake off a flat loss before the two programs meet in Columbus.
Ryan Day made it clear Tuesday that Oregon’s record doesn’t tell the full story. The Ohio State coach spent plenty of time praising the Ducks’ talent, and he didn’t shy away from singling out quarterback Dylan Raiola as part of the reason this matchup demands full attention.
“They have as much talent as anybody in the country,” Day said. “This team is excellent.
I know that they've lost three games, but put the film on. I mean, they have NFL players all over the field, and they have speed at wideout.
They have a good offensive line, a really good tight end. The running backs run hard, and then Raiola has played a lot of football as an experienced quarterback, so this is a major challenge for us.”
Oregon is coming off a 34-26 win over previously ranked No. 20 Northwestern at Autzen Stadium, while Ohio State dropped 30-18 to the previously unranked Trojans in Los Angeles in Week 9. The Ducks also made a change on offense before that win, parting ways with offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer and turning play-calling duties over to assistant quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson.
Raiola responded with one of his best outings in a Ducks uniform. Starting consecutive games for the first time this season, he threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns.
Day also has a little firsthand history with Raiola, having seen him in Columbus in 2024 when Raiola was a true freshman at Nebraska. In that 21-17 Ohio State win, Raiola passed for 152 yards, rushed for 31 more, and did not throw a touchdown while also tossing an interception.
Day pointed to another Oregon performance as evidence that the Ducks’ record can be misleading. In Week 4, Oregon beat USC 41-27 in Los Angeles, with Raiola throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Ohio State, meanwhile, lost to USC this season.
“And you saw the way that they played against USC, and we just lost USC,” he said. “So, I know that maybe some of these records or whatever this season seem a little bit out of whack, but this team going into the season was predicted to be the National Champ, and they haven't lost a whole bunch of players.
They're really talented. They're very, very good on defense as well.”
Day kept coming back to the same point: Oregon is not the kind of team Ohio State can afford to treat lightly just because the Ducks have three losses. He called them one of the most talented teams the Buckeyes have seen all season and said the margin for error is razor thin.
“I mean, this is as good as a team as we've played all year in terms of talent,” he added. “And when they're on, they're on, and they played really good last week.
So, in Dylan in particular, he's played a lot of football, and he has got a strong arm. He understands what's going on.
He's an older guy.”
The matchup entering Week 10 looks very different from what many expected before the season, when Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in the preseason and Oregon was right behind at No. 2. Instead, the Buckeyes come in with two losses and the Ducks with three, after both teams have dealt with costly mistakes, quarterback injuries and shuffling along the offensive line.
Day said Ohio State has to clean things up quickly if it wants to avoid another rough afternoon.
“So, we talked about it before that the margin for error here is tiny, and so we better recognize that if we don't get these things fixed and play better, like this isn't going to get any better against Oregon,” Day said.
“We got to be better than they are in all phases, and so yeah, I mean that's the challenge for this week, and it's not going to go well if we don't get these things fixed like now,” he continued. “And so, the urgency had better be really high for everybody, coaches and players included.”
In Other News...
Ohio States CFP Ranking Just Reignited A Frustrating Committee Debate
The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 immediately stirred up the kind of familiar arguments that seem to arrive every November, and Ohio State fans know the drill well enough by now. Miami landed at No. 1, followed by Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama, but the order raised fresh questions about how the committee is weighing head-to-head results, strength of schedule and the value of unbeaten records in a crowded field.
Hunter Yurachek tried to walk through the committees thinking, but the explanations only sharpened the debate around several placements, especially UCLA sitting behind teams with losses and Utah climbing so high with just one ranked win. For Ohio State, the broader concern is less about one specific slot than the same old uncertainty about what the rankings are really rewarding, and whether the committees logic will hold once the bracket starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has A Legit CFP Ranking Complaint After First Bracket
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season immediately stirred the usual arguments, with Alabama landing in the top five despite a mixed record against ranked opponents and Notre Dame showing up lower than it did in the AP poll. The committee also drew attention for the way it handled strength of schedule, a familiar flashpoint this time of year, and it did not take long for the Buckeyes to have a reason to feel slighted.
Hunter Yurachek said the committee did not consider Ohio States head-to-head win over Indiana when it made its first bracket. For a program that has spent the early part of the season trying to stack rsum points against quality competition, that omission stands out, especially when the rankings are already inviting scrutiny elsewhere. Ohio State may not love the opening picture, and this is the kind of detail that tends to linger until the committee explains itself a little more fully. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Explains Tense Ohio State Exchange After USC Statement Win
USCs 30-18 win over Ohio State ended with a little more edge than the scoreboard alone suggested, as Trojans coach Lincoln Riley and Buckeyes athletic director Ross Bjork had a brief verbal exchange on the field afterward. Riley was asked about it later and downplayed the moment, saying it was simply part of the emotions that spill over after a game like that and that the two moved past it quickly.
For Ohio State, the exchange was a small postgame footnote to an outcome that already stung, but it still drew attention because it happened in plain view after a high-profile nonconference matchup. Riley did not get into what started it, leaving the specifics out of reach even as he tried to brush off any bigger meaning from the scene. [Read more 🡒]