Sports often produce some of the best underdog stories. We gravitate to them with ease and cherish them while they last. But the not-so-secret truth about it all is that nothing beats the innate desire to watch and witness greatness.
The Ducks’ (13-1) quest for greatness — and perfection — ended in unremarkable fashion, with the Ohio State Buckeyes (13-2) being the better team for the entirety of their 41-21 win.
“They clicked tonight, we didn’t,” head coach Dan Lanning said. “I didn’t get our team prepared…we didn’t have any way to stop them.”
The game was exactly as lopsided as the final score suggested, if not more so. The Buckeyes were more dominant at the line of scrimmage. Led by wide receiver Jeremiah Smith — who solidified himself as the best player in the nation with seven receptions for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns — they were quicker on the outside. They were more aggressive with their early play calling with their first three plays going for 75 yards, all of which were through the air. And even with the incredible opening half, they really never went cold.
Ohio State stormed out to a truly remarkable start, scoring 31 points in just over 21 minutes. The whole thing took less than an hour in real-time. In that span, heroes were made and dreams were destroyed.
The heroes, mainly Smith, quarterback Will Howard and wide receiver Emeka Ebuka (five receptions for 72 yards) were prolific and proficient, with the offense cutting through the Oregon defense with will. All while Oregon’s offense stalled out by compounding empty possessions.
“He’s NFL ready,” Lanning said of Smith, a freshman.
The early lopsided scoreboard looked far less likely only a few minutes prior with a remarkable flyover and a notably Oregon-leaning showing from fans. Those factors could have resulted in being a turning point in the game, but they were just another turn of the knife as chants of “O-H-I-O” rang throughout the Rose Bowl.
Gabriel (29-4, 299 yards, two touchdowns) found Traeshon Holden in the endzone for a five-yard touchdown for the Ducks’ lone scoring drive of the first half. But the Buckeyes made sure only one stat ended up mattering — they outgained Oregon 390 to 139 over the first 30 minutes and 500 to 276 when the clock hit zero.
“Dillon did an unbelievable job at the end of the half creating a spark for our team,” Lanning said. “A lot of those weren’t natural plays, it wasn’t like the first guy was there… it was guys like Traeshon and the o-line fighting like crazy to extend plays, we just didn’t have enough of those moments today.”
Injuries littered the Ducks throughout the game, with offensive headliners Evan Stewart injured in warm-ups and Jordan James hurt midgame. But it was defensively where the Ducks struggled the most, being exposed all game long by the hyper-talented Buckeyes who set numerous team and Rose Bowl records on the way. Smith set a new single-game receiving yards record for freshman at Ohio State and TreVeyon Henderson’s 66-yard rushing touchdown was the longest ever for a Buckeye at the Rose Bowl.
Frustration was the prevailing sentiment from the Oregon side after a game where Ohio State didn’t need to rely on its two NFL-caliber running backs to wreak Oregon’s defense. They did so anyway, with Henderson rushing eight times for 84 yards and two touchdowns one of which went for 66 yards and made the OSU lead 31. Quinshon Judkins (85 yards) did his fair share of damage out of the backfield too, serving as the primary clock-draining antagonist for the Buckeyes.
“We knew we had to get on the perimeter, take shots and win our one-on-one matchups, and that’s what we did,” Smith said.
“They obviously had a better plan than us… I don’t think our plan was good enough.” Lanning said.
Reminiscing on unexecuted potential just wasn’t enough Wednesday. Not as the Ducks squandered what chances Ohio State did allow for. Oregon ended the game with a net rushing total of -23.
“We have to be able to adjust a little bit faster,” Lanning said. “There were some things that we were able to get going at points, but we have to be able to adjust faster.”
Lanning was less accommodating when it came to assessing a defensive unit that was gashed throughout, Smith had 161 receiving yards in the first half alone.
It didn’t have to be this way, Oregon’s fans responded, — boasting an advantage in the 90,732 fans who filed into Pasadena. And they were loud, that is, even at times when the Ducks weren’t giving them reasons to be. But, eventually and understandably, they fizzled out as the clock drained and the stadium emptied.
Ohio State ate it up, waving their fans on with towels before every big play. The Ducks just got eaten.
Any hopes of an Oregon comeback were shattered by a pair of third-quarter punts followed by OSU scoring drives. Oregon’s offense struggled to fight through the injuries to James and Stewart en route to averaging just 3.9 yards per play. The Buckeyes sacked Gabriel eight times on the night, and Howard (319 yards, three touchdowns) was left untouched.
“We had an opportunity,” Lanning said. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunity.”
Positive opportunities, though, eluded the Ducks as Ohio State broke them down early, often and always — with a consistency that no team has before.
“They don’t have a lot of weaknesses, they have strengths,” Lanning said of Ohio State. “That’s a great team.”
So too are these Ducks, which will make Wednesday’s loss sting even more.
Future hope is not lost in Eugene, Lanning and his staff have grown the program enough that optimism reigns. Optimism leads to hope. Hope leads to continued donations to one nation’s top NIL funds. Donations lead to players. Players lead to wins.
But the era of silver linings is over. The Ducks want gold, and they’ll have to wait a year for another chance to get it.
