Saturday, November 7
Columbus, OH
12:30 PM
University of Oregon
at
Ohio State
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
11/07/26 | Football
Oregon fell behind by two touchdowns Saturday, then scored 38 straight points on the way to a 41-28 win at Ohio State.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Mummy Ducks turned into Shoe Ducks. And Oregon preserved its place in the College Football Playoff conversation for at least one more week.
Oregon put together the kind of performance Saturday unseen by a visitor to Ohio Stadium in decades. Down 14-0 through one quarter, the Ducks reeled off the next 38 points on the way to a 41-28 win — the Buckeyes' first loss at home after leading by 14 points in 25 years.
After losing its starting quarterback to injury late in September, then struggling to establish consistency through October, the Ducks came into November with some momentum after a Halloween comeback at home. They turbo-charged that momentum with Saturday's win, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit in consecutive games for the first time in modern program history.
"Obviously a fun game." UO coach Dan Lanning said. "Lot of credit to our players for really not flinching, not blinking when you're down 14, and to just keep fighting. In those moments we've said we were going to let it hang and just go after it. And similar to last week, we've proven that we can be a team that's been in tough battles and can battle back."
The Ducks ended Ohio State's 14-0 start with a field goal early in the second quarter. That ended up sparking a run of 38 straight points for Oregon, including a dominant 21-point explosion in the "middle 8" of the game before and after halftime — fueled by bursts of creativity on special teams and offense.
Oregon came into Saturday at No. 23 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of the season, released earlier in the week. For at least one more week, the Ducks will remain in that conversation — even if the Ducks themselves won't be a voice in it. Because blocking out big-picture narratives has been critical to the way things have clicked for Oregon recently.
"Starting the season off, we had a lot of things on our mind, a lot of goals that we were focused on," said receiver Dakorian Moore, who had a sweet touchdown grab on a fade route for the second week in a row. "But I think now it's just going out there, playing free, doing what we do. I think we're just letting it loose now."
Dylan Raiola went 25-of-40 for 257 yards with two touchdowns, Dierre Hill Jr. ran for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and breakout freshman Brandon Smith caught a TD pass from Raiola to cap Oregon's 38-point run early in the fourth quarter. Devon Jackson and Dylan Williams had eight tackles each to lead the UO defense.
"We were confident in our plan," Raiola said. "We saw seams everywhere in their defense when we were game-planning for them. A couple (breakdowns on) those first couple drives were self-inflicted wounds, and so we never got down. We were confident when they got up 14. We're like, well, this happened last week, so let's just go do it again."
Hill's first rushing touchdown made it 14-10 with 1:25 left in the first half, sparking Oregon's dominance of the "middle 8" — the 4 minutes before and after halftime. An acrobatic interception by freshman safety Devin Jackson gave the Ducks a chance to score again, and they did on a gadget play that saw tight end Jamari Johnson take the snap under center and power in from 2 yards out on the last play of the first half.
That play call came a few minutes after Hill's rushing touchdown was set up by a fake punt — a 30-yard pass from upback Teitum Tuioti to his fellow upback and outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei. Prior to the Northwestern game, Lanning had pledged to get back to the aggressive mindset he coached with for most of his UO tenure, and it was on display again Saturday.
"If we didn't fake that punt, if we didn't go for it on fourth down there, down tight in the red area, I would have been flying back regretting that, knowing that those opportunities were there," Lanning said. "I just feel like we've been a team that's like, let's let it rip, see where the chips fall."
The "middle 8" surge was capped by Hill's second rushing touchdown, less than 2 minutes after halftime. That run covered 48 yards — 14 more rushing yards than the Ducks had in the game to that point.
"We've been through a lot of adversity, and one thing with us, we just dial into the process a little bit harder and stay focused and stay with each other," Hill said. "And we did that and were able to succeed."
The Ducks thrived as well by avoiding allowing many big plays by superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith until the game was already out of hand. And for the second week in a row, they shored up their third-down defense as the game progressed. On the Buckeyes' scoring drive to open the game, they were 3-of-3 on third down; they converted only three more the rest of the night, and were 0-of-4 on fourth down.
"You start giving up some of those for free, that's a frustration, but it's easy things that you can fix," Lanning said. "You just don't know how many of those opportunities that you can give up and still have a chance to have success in the game. I thought our players settled in."
Over the summer, Saturday's game projected to be a match-up potentially of the top two teams in the country. Injuries for each at quarterback derailed that narrative. But though they've pledged to continue avoiding the topic, the Ducks' dreams remain alive.
"We're like cockroaches, man," Lanning said. "We won't die."
Oregon put together the kind of performance Saturday unseen by a visitor to Ohio Stadium in decades. Down 14-0 through one quarter, the Ducks reeled off the next 38 points on the way to a 41-28 win — the Buckeyes' first loss at home after leading by 14 points in 25 years.
After losing its starting quarterback to injury late in September, then struggling to establish consistency through October, the Ducks came into November with some momentum after a Halloween comeback at home. They turbo-charged that momentum with Saturday's win, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit in consecutive games for the first time in modern program history.
"Obviously a fun game." UO coach Dan Lanning said. "Lot of credit to our players for really not flinching, not blinking when you're down 14, and to just keep fighting. In those moments we've said we were going to let it hang and just go after it. And similar to last week, we've proven that we can be a team that's been in tough battles and can battle back."
The Ducks ended Ohio State's 14-0 start with a field goal early in the second quarter. That ended up sparking a run of 38 straight points for Oregon, including a dominant 21-point explosion in the "middle 8" of the game before and after halftime — fueled by bursts of creativity on special teams and offense.
Oregon came into Saturday at No. 23 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of the season, released earlier in the week. For at least one more week, the Ducks will remain in that conversation — even if the Ducks themselves won't be a voice in it. Because blocking out big-picture narratives has been critical to the way things have clicked for Oregon recently.
"Starting the season off, we had a lot of things on our mind, a lot of goals that we were focused on," said receiver Dakorian Moore, who had a sweet touchdown grab on a fade route for the second week in a row. "But I think now it's just going out there, playing free, doing what we do. I think we're just letting it loose now."
Dylan Raiola went 25-of-40 for 257 yards with two touchdowns, Dierre Hill Jr. ran for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and breakout freshman Brandon Smith caught a TD pass from Raiola to cap Oregon's 38-point run early in the fourth quarter. Devon Jackson and Dylan Williams had eight tackles each to lead the UO defense.
"We were confident in our plan," Raiola said. "We saw seams everywhere in their defense when we were game-planning for them. A couple (breakdowns on) those first couple drives were self-inflicted wounds, and so we never got down. We were confident when they got up 14. We're like, well, this happened last week, so let's just go do it again."
Hill's first rushing touchdown made it 14-10 with 1:25 left in the first half, sparking Oregon's dominance of the "middle 8" — the 4 minutes before and after halftime. An acrobatic interception by freshman safety Devin Jackson gave the Ducks a chance to score again, and they did on a gadget play that saw tight end Jamari Johnson take the snap under center and power in from 2 yards out on the last play of the first half.
That play call came a few minutes after Hill's rushing touchdown was set up by a fake punt — a 30-yard pass from upback Teitum Tuioti to his fellow upback and outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei. Prior to the Northwestern game, Lanning had pledged to get back to the aggressive mindset he coached with for most of his UO tenure, and it was on display again Saturday.
"If we didn't fake that punt, if we didn't go for it on fourth down there, down tight in the red area, I would have been flying back regretting that, knowing that those opportunities were there," Lanning said. "I just feel like we've been a team that's like, let's let it rip, see where the chips fall."
The "middle 8" surge was capped by Hill's second rushing touchdown, less than 2 minutes after halftime. That run covered 48 yards — 14 more rushing yards than the Ducks had in the game to that point.
"We've been through a lot of adversity, and one thing with us, we just dial into the process a little bit harder and stay focused and stay with each other," Hill said. "And we did that and were able to succeed."
The Ducks thrived as well by avoiding allowing many big plays by superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith until the game was already out of hand. And for the second week in a row, they shored up their third-down defense as the game progressed. On the Buckeyes' scoring drive to open the game, they were 3-of-3 on third down; they converted only three more the rest of the night, and were 0-of-4 on fourth down.
"You start giving up some of those for free, that's a frustration, but it's easy things that you can fix," Lanning said. "You just don't know how many of those opportunities that you can give up and still have a chance to have success in the game. I thought our players settled in."
Over the summer, Saturday's game projected to be a match-up potentially of the top two teams in the country. Injuries for each at quarterback derailed that narrative. But though they've pledged to continue avoiding the topic, the Ducks' dreams remain alive.
"We're like cockroaches, man," Lanning said. "We won't die."
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