Dan Lanning didn’t coach Oregon like a team trying to survive Saturday night in Columbus. He coached like a team willing to gamble, and the Ducks were rewarded for it.
After falling behind No. 12 Ohio State 14-0 through the first quarter, Oregon steadied itself with a second-quarter field goal and then flipped the game with a string of aggressive calls that changed everything before halftime.
The headline moment came with 3:06 left in the half, when the Ducks lined up to punt after a stalled drive. Instead of giving the ball back, Lanning and play-caller Jay Johnson dialed up a fake.
Edge rusher Teitum Tuioti took the snap and flipped the ball to fellow edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, who hurdled a defender and turned the play into a 30-yard first down.
Trickery!@TeitumT to Matayo Uiagalelei for 30 yards on the fake punt 👍#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cLrsV3MZGI
That shot of life carried straight into Oregon’s first touchdown of the night, trimming the deficit to 14-10. Then the Ducks’ defense piled on the pressure. True freshman safety Devin Jackson came up with a toe-tap interception near the Oregon 40-yard line, giving the Ducks the ball back with 1:06 remaining in the half.
Oregon still wasn’t done pushing. A 31-yard pass from Dylan Raiola to running back Brandon Smith set up a chance to take the lead with two seconds left.
Rather than settle for a field goal at the Ohio State two-yard line, Lanning stayed aggressive. Oregon came out in a three-linemen formation, and tight end Jamari Johnson punched in his first career rushing touchdown to send the Ducks into halftime ahead 17-14.
This formation and this call 🔥No. 23 @oregonfootball scores on the final play of the first half at No. 12 Ohio State.Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/s6HuZSwPz2
The Ducks’ approach fits the moment. With three losses already, Oregon doesn’t have the same kind of cushion it once did, but it does have something to play with now: freedom. The first College Football Playoff rankings left the Ducks with a path if they can start by winning in Columbus.
Lanning talked Monday about how those losses changed the way his team has to operate.
“You think back to the UCLA game, and you're like, man, this is a game that if we didn't have seven turnovers or six turnovers or five turnovers, we're in position to have success in the game,” he said during his Monday press conference. “And I think that moments like that make you coach different. Because you're like, all right, if we just protect the ball, we don't make mistakes, we're gonna win.”
“And that's not always reality. You have to be true to your identity.
And I feel like there was moments in that UCLA game, in Illinois, that we weren't true to our identity,” he added. “I think that let our players play a little more free, let them do what they do, and again, not so much concerned about outcomes, but the best possibilities are created in moments where you're able to say, okay, I'm going to make a decisive decision and attack it and go play.”
Ohio State had the pressure early, and Oregon answered by leaning into the kind of bold play-calling that has fueled Lanning’s program over the last five seasons. The Ducks also cleaned up the ball security issues that had been a concern early, and their touchdown to open the third quarter pushed the lead to 24 unanswered points.
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