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.
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USCs November 21 matchup with Maryland now has a set stage, with the Big Ten Network carrying the game and a 3:15 p.m. PT kickoff in what will be the first meeting between the programs since 2024. It also lands as the Trojans final regular-season home game, which gives the afternoon a little extra weight beyond the usual conference scheduling note.
Jayden Maiava will be the quarterback under center for that last home date, adding another layer to a stretch that already feels pivotal for USC. The Trojans still have a major test ahead against No. 4 Indiana before closing the regular season at home, so the Maryland game may end up carrying more meaning than it first appears when the schedule was released. [Read more 🡒]
USC Suddenly Holds A Surprising Amount Of Power In The Big Ten
Desman Stephens hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has already rippled well beyond the moment itself, because Moore is now out for the rest of the season and the Ducks path forward has become tangled with what USC does next. The Trojans, suddenly, find themselves in the middle of a conference race that extends past their own standings, with their upcoming game against Indiana carrying weight far beyond a single November result.
Indiana sits atop the Big Ten with one conference loss, and a USC win would reshape the league picture in a hurry while also keeping Oregons College Football Playoff hopes alive. For a program still trying to establish itself in its new conference home, it is an unusual kind of leverage to have this late in the season, and it makes the USC-Indiana matchup feel like more than just another Saturday game. [Read more 🡒]
USC Just Got A Big Ten Opening Fans Need To Watch
The Big Ten race keeps shifting around USC, and the latest weekend only added more layers to sort through. Illinois took down Nebraska, UCLA handled Minnesota, Maryland got past Purdue, Penn State slipped by Washington, Oregon knocked off Ohio State, Wisconsin beat Rutgers, Michigan State topped Michigan and Iowa got by Northwestern, a run of results that reshuffled the league picture in a hurry and gave the Trojans even more reason to keep one eye on the standings.
For USC, the takeaway is less about any single upset and more about how wide open the conference still feels. With so many teams taking turns looking vulnerable or dangerous, the Trojans are watching a league where momentum can change fast and where every result can alter the path ahead. The early read is clear enough: the opening is there, but the margin for error in the Big Ten remains thin. [Read more 🡒]