EUGENE, Ore. — Meeting for the first time as Big Ten foes, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Oregon delivered an instant classic that included seven lead changes as the Ducks edged out a 32-31 win to knock the Buckeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Atticus Sappington’s 19-yard field goal with 1:47 remaining gave Oregon its final lead, and Ohio State’s potential game-winning drive ended well inside Oregon territory when quarterback Will Howard’s scramble and slide attempt ran out the final seconds on the clock despite the Buckeyes still having a timeout at their disposal.
With Howard sitting on the Oregon 26 and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day sprinting down the sideline to try and get the timeout, the Oregon sideline and student section spilled onto the field in celebration as the officials huddled briefly before sprinting off the field after confirming the clock was correct.
The blunder by Howard marred what was an otherwise terrific day for the fifth-year senior in his first big game as a Buckeye. He threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown for the fifth consecutive game.
“I thought I (slid in time) but obviously didn’t,” Howard said after the game. “I worried about trying to get enough yards for the field goal and to get into range … I gotta get down. We gotta learn from it.”
While Howard’s game-ending miscue may be the lasting memory from the game, the loss was hardly the fault of an Ohio State offense that gained 467 total yards to go along with 31 points. On the flip side, the Buckeye defense was gashed repeatedly by Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and the Oregon offense in an alarming performance that saw the Ducks approach the 500-yard mark.
Gabriel completed 23 of his 34 attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns and added his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. Receivers Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson each caught seven passes and a touchdown, and Stewart’s 149 receiving yards were a career-high for the junior.
Ohio State held leads at four different points in the game, and in three of the instances, Oregon took the lead on the ensuing drive following the score.
“We have to do a better job coaching,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said of the performance. “That’s it, that’s the bottom line. We didn’t make enough plays. I didn’t think we were outstanding in any area, and I felt like we were always behind. It was uncharacteristic, and we have to learn from it … Our players are certainly good enough to win that game. We talked about winning the game on defense, and we didn’t get the job done.”
After receiving the opening kickoff, Ohio State wasted no time delivering an early statement. Howard’s 1-yard rushing touchdown, his fifth of the season and fifth in as many games, gave the Buckeyes an early 7-0 lead five minutes into the game.
An Oregon punt on the ensuing possession gave the ball back to Ohio State, but the game’s first turnover ended the drive abruptly as Quinshon Judkins had the ball ripped away from him by Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon at the Buckeye 28.
Oregon cashed in on the great field position two plays later when Jordan James busted into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to get the Ducks on the board. A bad snap led to a failed two-point conversion attempt on the PAT, allowing Ohio State to maintain a 7-6 lead.
James finished with 115 yards on 23 carries to go along with the touchdown. It was his third consecutive game surpassing the 100-yard mark.
Issues in the kicking game again thwarted an opportunity for Oregon to add points. Sappington pushed his 44-yard attempt wide right late in the first quarter, keeping Ohio State in front by a point.
Judkins’ 1-yard touchdown run upped Ohio State’s lead to 14-6 just seconds in the second quarter, but the twists and turns were just getting started as Oregon countered with a flurry of big plays to take its first lead.
First, Stewart got Ohio State cornerback Denzel Burke to bite on a double move, allowing Stewart to get behind him for a 69-yard completion to the Ohio State 8. Two plays later, it was Stewart again getting the better of Burke in the end zone to cut Ohio State’s lead to 14-12. The two-point attempt to tie the game was unsuccessful.
On the ensuing kickoff, Andrew Boyle drilled the kick off an Ohio State player, causing the ball to rebound back towards the Oregon kickoff team. The live ball was recovered by the Ducks, sending Gabriel and the offense right back onto the field.
Oregon’s drive stalled inside the Ohio State 10, forcing a 27-yard field goal attempt from Sappington that he made to give the Ducks a 15-14 lead with 10:09 left in the half.
The ebb and flow continued on Ohio State’s next drive, which ended in the end zone following a 15-yard strike from Howard to Emeka Egbuka. The touchdown capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive to reclaim the lead, but it proved to be shortlived as Gabriel and the Oregon passing attack continued to victimize Burke in coverage.
Facing a 3rd and 9 from near midfield, Johnson ran past Burke and under an accurate pass from Gabriel for a 48-yard touchdown just before the half to send the Ducks into the locker room with a 22-21 lead after a wild first half that included four lead changes.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the second half after Ohio State forced an Oregon punt on the opening possession of the third quarter. Howard’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith gave Ohio State a 28-22 lead early in the third quarter, and after turning Oregon away on a fourth-down stop at the Ohio State 2 on the ensuing possession, the Buckeyes had an opportunity to stretch its lead to multiple scores.
Instead, it was the Oregon defense coming up with a timely stop and setting the stage for a frantic fourth-quarter finish.
Gabriel’s 27-yard rushing touchdown sent Oregon back into the lead with 13:20 left, putting Ohio State in a 29-28 deficit. But as he had done for most of the night, Howard rose to the occasion and again led the Buckeyes down the field to recapture the lead.
Howard connected on five of his first seven attempts on the drive, covering 51 yards and moving Ohio State deep into Oregon territory. A false start penalty ultimately derailed the drive, however, and Ohio State settled for a 40-yard field goal from Jayden Fielding to take the lead.
But as was the case all evening, the lead didn’t much matter as Ohio State was once again unable to get a stop and preserve its advantage. In need of just a field goal, it took just six plays for Oregon to traverse 50 yards to the Ohio State 26. A pass interference call on Ohio State cornerback Jordan Hancock moved the ball inside the 10 as Oregon aimed not to settle for the field goal.
With the clock ticking below two minutes to play, the Ohio State defense bowed, forcing the short kick from Sappington to again give Oregon the lead with 1:47 remaining.
Howard and the Ohio State offense took over at their own 25 with a timeout in hand, and after a near-disastrous sack of nine years got the drive off to an ominous start, Howard rallied to complete his next four attempts to move Ohio State well into field goal range.
His 28-yard completion to Egbuka gave Ohio State a first down at the Oregon 28 with 32 seconds to play, but an offensive pass interference call on Smith on the next play moved the ball back to the Oregon 43, setting up Howard’s ill-fated scramble to end the game.
Day took issue with the pass interference call after the game, saying he believed Smith’s shove of Oregon cornerback Nikko Reed was a result of the defender initiating contact.
“That cost us. But it shouldn’t come down to one play,” Day said. “We’ve said that before. We want to leave no doubt, and I felt like we should have done that tonight. We didn’t, and then you put it into the hands of one call. You don’t get the call, but that’s on us because it never should have come down to that situation…”
Howard said of what he hopes the team will take from the loss, “I hope it lights a fire under us because I still have all the belief in the world in this team. This is a good football team. I don’t think they necessarily beat us. I think we beat ourselves a little bit and left some stuff out there we have to learn from and get better because of. At the end of the day, I think this is a good team and we’re going to see (Oregon) again. I think the message has to be we have to grow and learn from this. This is obviously not how you want to do it, but you can’t let them beat you twice.”
Ohio State will have to endure the sting of defeat for an extra week as it heads into the final of two bye weeks before returning to action on Oct. 26 with a home game against Nebraska.
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.
