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Ohio State and Clemson lost and we’re just two weeks in.
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The Pac-12 matters, and again, that’s a good thing for a sport that needed a little bit of a disruption from the norm. Between UCLA’s win over LSU and this, the Pac-12 has suddenly become relevant to a nation that tends to ignore the conference that plays way too many games when people are sleeping. Absolutely nothing against Ohio State, but this really is a good thing for college football. If you can beat Ohio State in Columbus without your two best defensive players, you can get through this slateġ. There’s no USC or Arizona State from the South to face, so the spotlight is on and the expectations are ramped up. They still have to win the Pac-12 title and go at least 12-1, but now they can afford a loss to a UCLA, Washington, or Utah on the road. Like Oklahoma in 2017 – when it came into Ohio State and won 31-16, which allowed for a buffer when it lost to Texas a few weeks later – on the way to the CFP, this was the game that bought the Ducks a whole lot of breaks. The Buckeyes might not necessarily control their own CFP destiny, but you all know how this works – win your Power Five conference, go 12-1, and the committee will like you.Ģ. Penn State and Michigan State aren’t easy outs, but there’s no Wisconsin and no Iowa from the West. The toughest remaining road game is at … Michigan? Please. Of course the defense has to be stronger, but it’ll still be a double-digit favorite the rest of the way. This is hardly any sort of a deathblow to Ohio State’s College Football Playoff chances. Brown had way too much time to work – although he was at least hurried a bit late in the game – and there wasn’t any getting to Verdell and the running game before it could get going.ģ. Where was the Ohio State pass rush? Oregon was able to come up with a few sacks without Thibodeaux, but Ohio State came up with a grand total of zero sacks and one tackle for loss. No, he’s not the superstar talent that other top teams have, but he knows what he’s doing. He wasn’t flashy and he missed more than half of his throws, but he didn’t throw any picks, kept things moving, tossed two touchdown passes and ran for 65 yards. Anthony Brown started his career at Boston College as a solid freshman in 2017, threw for over 5,000 yards, had injury problems, and left for Oregon in 2020. The OSU O line is outstanding, but the Buckeyes ran just 31 times for 128 yards.ĥ. Throwing it 54 times isn’t supposed to be how this is supposed to work with all the home-run hitting talent in the backfield. CJ Stroud had a strong performance with 484 yards and three touchdowns – forgetting about the rough late pick that all but sealed the game – but the coaching staff didn’t rely enough on the great offensive line. The Buckeyes got away from the running game. How good and how talented is this team? They won without two NFL starting defenders with Kayvon Thibodeaux and Justin Flowe out.Ħ. This shouldn’t come across as that massive a shock – Oregon has the guys. The Ducks have talent, they have speed, and they have next-level guys from years of strong recruiting classes. What gets lost in this is just how great Oregon is and was supposed to be coming into the game. Ohio State is still very, very, very good. The 118 points are the most ever allowed by Ohio State over a three-game stretch in the history of the program, barely beating the 114 given up over a late run in 2018 and obliterating any other three games.ħ. 52 in the national title loss to Alabama last year, 31 to Minnesota, and 38 to Oregon. The adjustments didn’t come quickly enough, there wasn’t any accounting for Verdell and the stretch-zone play on the outside, and now …Ĩ. Yeah, the Ohio State defense needs to be far, far better. To be fair, Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim might have been the Big Ten Player of the Year had he not suffered an Achilles heel injury, and Oregon’s CJ Verdell is a future – to go very, very generous – Alvin Kamara-like NFL starter. The narrative will be all about the Ohio State run defense that got hammered by Minnesota last week and gave up 269 yards and over seven yards per carry against Oregon. Oregon 35, Ohio State 28: Instant Reactionġ0. 10 thoughts on upset win by the Ducks to crank up the season for the Pac-12.