Oregon’s trip to Columbus comes with plenty of noise around it, but the Ducks are carrying a few things into Ohio Stadium that could matter just as much as the scarlet backdrop Ohio State is trying to create.
Saturday’s game at noon Pacific time pits two teams that opened the year with championship goals and have since had to deal with injuries at quarterback and multiple losses. Oregon is coming off a comeback win over then-No.
20 Northwestern, while Ohio State is trying to steady itself after falling at USC. The Ducks can strengthen their case with a second straight ranked victory and keep their slim College Football Playoff hopes in play.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, are looking to stop the questions that followed the USC loss and stay in the playoff mix after a quarterback change.
One of the more interesting threads in this matchup starts with Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola. He originally committed to Ohio State in May 2022, when Ryan Day was head coach, before reopening his recruitment that December.
Raiola later committed to Georgia, then flipped to Nebraska, where he began his college career. Now he returns to Columbus as Oregon’s starter, facing the program he once pledged to join.
Ohio State will be doing it without Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely with a throwing-arm injury. True freshman Luke Fahey has taken over, and his first start came in the Buckeyes’ 30-18 loss at USC. Fahey completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in that game.
Dan Lanning hasn’t coached in Ohio Stadium, but he has seen Fahey before. Lanning said Fahey was a high school prospect when he was at Mission Viejo High School in California.
“I remember Luke coming out of high school, went by, seeing him when he was in high school and he's an operator. He's a really smart quarterback, right?
He's a winner. But his intelligence, it shows up.
This is an offense that has a lot of moving parts. I thought he handled it extremely well in that environment,” Lanning said about Fahey's first start at USC.
The Ducks also have recent history on their side in the series, having won two of the last three meetings with Ohio State. The Buckeyes, though, took the most recent one, a 41-21 win in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
Ohio State has turned its home field into a tough place to survive. The Buckeyes have won 12 straight at home, the longest active streak in the Big Ten and tied for fourth nationally. Oregon’s last trip to Ohio Stadium ended in victory in 2021, and the Ducks are 10-1 in Big Ten road games since joining the conference in 2024.
There are also individual numbers worth watching. Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith can break Marvin Harrison Jr.’s program record with his 16th career 100-yard receiving game against Oregon.
Through eight games this season, Smith has 62 catches for 1,067 yards and 13 touchdowns. Since entering college football in 2024, he leads all players in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Raiola is coming off his best passing day as a Duck. Against Northwestern, he went 22 of 31 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, his first 300-yard game in an Oregon uniform.
That performance came in the Ducks’ first game with Jay Johnson calling plays after Drew Mehringer’s dismissal. Raiola also helped Oregon erase a 14-point deficit, including a 75-yard touchdown strike to Dakorien Moore in the fourth quarter.
Moore has been just as important lately. His 23 catches over the last three weeks are tied for fourth nationally.
Against Northwestern, he caught seven passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, he leads Oregon with 41 receptions for 545 yards and six touchdowns.
Oregon and Ohio State kick off at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 7, and the game will air on CBS. Ducks fans making the trip to Columbus are being encouraged to wear green.
In Other News...
Oregon Found An Unexpected Answer Up Front At The Perfect Time
The Ducks needed help up front, and Tommy Tofi has stepped into the picture at exactly the right moment. The freshman offensive lineman has started the last two games at left guard, a notable development for an Oregon front that has leaned on him sooner than expected. Under Dan Lanning, he is the first freshman to start a regular season game on the offensive line, a sign of how quickly he has earned trust inside the program.
Tofis rise has come through steady work and the kind of day-to-day growth that usually stays behind the scenes until injuries or depth issues force a team to look deeper. He has benefited from mentorship from teammates while sharpening his own game, and Oregon has already seen the payoff in recent action, including a key block on a touchdown run against Northwestern. For a line group that always has to be ready for the next test, finding a dependable answer this early is a welcome development. [Read more 🡒]
Oregons Big Ten Dominance Just Added Another Statement Win
The Ducks kept rolling through their first Big Ten season in style, sweeping both the mens and womens cross country conference titles and adding another clean result to a year that has already looked familiar in one important way: Oregon keeps winning. The womens championship was their third straight, while Diana Cherotich stamped the day with a course record and the individual title, and Simeon Birnbaum gave the men their own individual winner as Oregon again showed how deep and balanced the program has become.
Since joining the Big Ten, Oregon has now claimed 12 of 14 conference titles across cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, a run that says as much about the programs standard as it does about any single meet. The latest sweep fits the pattern, but it also raises the bar even higher for what comes next, because this group is not just collecting trophies, it is making a habit of arriving at championship weekends and leaving little doubt about who the leagues benchmark really is. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Reopened A Debate Ducks Fans Thought Was Over
A win over Northwestern was enough to push Oregon back into the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 23, a reminder that the Ducks are still very much in the postseason conversation despite the uneven start that knocked them out of the picture earlier. Their path is not simple, but it is there, and it has reopened a debate many fans probably assumed was settled after the earlier losses.
Oregon still has work to do, beginning with a looming matchup against Ohio State, and the margin for error remains thin. Even so, the Ducks have benefited from a little help around the country as other top teams have stumbled, while key players have started to look more like themselves, giving this late-season push a legitimacy that was not there a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]