Oregon Stuns No. 12 Ohio State With 38 Unanswered Points in 41-28 Comeback Victory

Oregon Stuns No. 12 Ohio State With 38 Unanswered Points in 41-28 Comeback Victory

By: Ezra Hanshaw

(Photo/Ezra Hanshaw-The Mojo Network)

No. 23 Oregon trailed 14-0 after the first quarter, then took over, beating No. 12 Ohio State 41-28 on Saturday, Nov. 7, in a top-25 matchup at Ohio Stadium. The Ducks scored 38 unanswered points and kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

 

Ohio State started the game out fast. Freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, making only his second career start after last week’s 30-18 loss against USC, led the Buckeyes on two quick scoring drives, spreading the ball around in the pass game and controlling the line of scrimmage on the ground. With a 14-0 lead after one quarter and the home crowd behind them, the Buckeyes gave the Ducks flashbacks to the 2025 Rose Bowl, when Ohio State dominated them in Pasadena.

Oregon’s offense, with Jay Johnson calling plays for just the second week, got back to what it does best: winning at the line of scrimmage, using tempo to get the ball to playmakers like Dierre Hill Jr., and Dakorien Moore, Jamari Johnson, and others while playing with creativity. Head coach Dan Lanning leaned into that aggressive style too, with a fake punt and a goal-line gamble before halftime that changed the entire momentum of the game.

The momentum shifted with 2:20 left in the half. Facing fourth down at their own 30, and only 3 points on the scoreboard, the Ducks lined up to punt and ran a fake you don’t see often. The long snapper snapped directly to outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti, who pretended to rush up the middle before jump-passing over the line of scrimmage to fellow outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei. Uiagalelei, who played tight end in high school, took it 30 yards downfield to the Ohio State 40. A few plays later, quarterback Dylan Raiola had worked the ball to the 10-yard line with passes to tight end Jamari Johnson and running back Dierre Hill Jr., and Hill punched it in with 1:28 left to make it a 14-10 deficit.

Ohio State’s next possession ended when Fahey threw into triple coverage and Devin Jackson intercepted it at the Oregon 40 with just over a minute left. With the ball and the second-half kickoff coming, the Ducks pushed for more points. A screen pass to backup running back Brandon Smith went to the Ohio State 30, and Raiola found Evan Stewart inside the 10. After a few short gains and defensive penalties, Oregon was set up at the 2-yard line with 2 seconds left. Lanning skipped the field goal attempt and decided to have TE Jamari Johnson go in motion, stop under center, take the snap, and power into the end zone as time expired for a 17-14 halftime lead.

Oregon got the second-half kickoff and kept rolling. Hill took a handoff 48 yards for a touchdown on an explosive opening drive, set up by blocks at the line and three big blocks downfield from the receivers. They had completed a “middle eight” masterclass, the stretch that covers the final four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second, in that time the Ducks scored three times. Midway through the third quarter, Raiola threw an 11-yard touchdown to the back of the end zone, where Moore made a spectacular one-handed catch. Later in the third quarter, Oregon downed a punt inside the 1-yard line that kept the pressure on Ohio State. After a defensive stop and getting the ball back early in the fourth quarter Raiola hit backup running back Brandon Smith for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 38-14.
That made it 38 unanswered points before Ohio State got back was able to put something on the board. The Buckeyes scored twice in the fourth quarter, first on a touchdown to Jeremiah Smith, then on a touchdown pass to tight end Nate Roberts. Oregon answered with a Gage Hurych field goal with about a minute left to seal the 41-28 win in The Shoe. The Ducks’ defense kept Heisman hopeful Smith in check for most of the game. He finished with 7 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, most of it his stats coming late in the fourth quarter.

Raiola was efficient, going 25-of-40 for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Hill rushed for 75 yards and two scores, and Moore caught 7 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Gage Hurych made two field goals, including a 33-yarder in the second quarter.

The win lifted Oregon (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) seven spots to No. 16 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the biggest jump of any team this week. The path is narrow, and the stakes are unusual. The Big Ten announced Monday that this year’s championship game, Dec. 5 in Indianapolis, will be its last, with the playoff expanding from 12 to 24 teams in 2027. According to Oregon Ducks on SI, the Ducks need to win out and get help: UCLA winning out, USC beating No. 9 Indiana on Nov. 14, and Iowa, Northwestern, and Wisconsin each losing one more game. If that happens, Oregon would face UCLA for the title. Without a title-game berth, ESPN’s playoff predictor gives a 3-0 Oregon a 32 percent chance at an at-large bid.

The Ducks lost a key defender in Columbus. Tuioti suffered a severe left knee injury in the fourth quarter and will miss the rest of the season, Lanning announced Nov. 9. Running back Jordon Davison, who was hurt against Northwestern on Oct. 31, remains week-to-week with a lower-body injury. On the bright side, wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan returned against Ohio State for the first time since breaking his foot in pregame warmups before the Portland State game on Sept. 18.

Oregon hosts Michigan at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 12:30 p.m. PT on FS1. The Wolverines are expected to start true freshman Tommy Carr over sophomore Bryce Underwood, according to On3. The Ducks then travel to Michigan State on Friday, Nov. 20, and close the regular season at home against Washington on Nov. 28.

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