Oregon sent some shockwaves through college football today in Columbus by absolutely putting it on Ohio State.
The final ended up 35-28 thanks to some offensive heroics from Ohio State in the second half, but watching the whole thing it was pretty clear Oregon was the better team today.
Some select highlights:
No, this isn't a replay of the first TD 😅@Cjverdell_ finds the end zone on 4th and 1 for @oregonfootball to put them up 14-7! pic.twitter.com/KAIehnApa6
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
Oregon’s offense had the run of things all day, but their defense came up big on multiple fourth down attempts by the Buckeyes, too:
What a stop by @B1essah 😤@oregonfootball forces Ohio State into their second turnover on downs in the first half pic.twitter.com/D46Sp9aZ7f
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
Oregon’s drive to start the second half was a real sign that Ohio State was in trouble:
THERE GOES THAT MAN, @Cjverdell_ 🤯
The @oregonfootball star breaks free for his 3rd TD run of the game! pic.twitter.com/8iJrK4pa4V
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
Ohio State didn’t go away; C.J. Stroud and the OSU offense played well enough to win the game, fourth down issues aside.
👏👏 @OhioStateFB answers with a touchdown from @jaxon_smith1 pic.twitter.com/8rr5DX7oZL
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
This one's not over yet!@TreVeyonH4 pulls @OhioStateFB back to within one score vs Oregon 🌰 pic.twitter.com/dkyX3cNuqI
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
But the Ducks had multiple answers on both sides of the ball:
Make that THREE fourth-down stops for the @oregonfootball defense 😤 pic.twitter.com/3QGuuWqITz
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
🦆🔥 @oregonfootball IS NOT SLOWING DOWN! pic.twitter.com/PlNa1GZaDF
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
OSU scored one last time in the fourth quarter:
On 4th down @jaxon_smith1 and @CJ7Stroud come up with a HUGE touchdown for @OhioStateFB 💪
We have a one score game in Columbus 👀 pic.twitter.com/apj6fkCA8x
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
But it was too little, too late. Oregon’s offense ran clock and OSU couldn’t get anything else going on offense. Oregon intercepted Stroud to essentially seal the game:
PICKED OFF!@oregonfootball gets the ball back up a TD with under 3 minutes left in the game pic.twitter.com/y20H9oIAf2
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
The @oregonfootball strength coach was HYPED after that INT 😂😤 pic.twitter.com/fNONQdfDp4
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
And with that, the Buckeyes lost a regular season game at home, which is incredibly rare. The PAC 12, meanwhile, gets a huge non-conference win, something the league could desperately use; they haven’t had a playoff representative in years (not since Oregon in 2015!) and this is the kind of win that could end up a resume booster.
Ohio State, meanwhile, has a lot to fix. They’ll have a soft stretch in their schedule to do it, but that also means they won’t really be able to rack up quality wins to try and rebuild their own playoff case.
What a wild way to start off Saturday action, though.