Ohio State lost 41-28 to Oregon in the Horseshoe on Nov. 7, one week after losing 30-18 at USC. Those results are too decisive and too close together to dismiss.

Ohio State’s championship season is gone. The way it disappeared exposed a roster that wasn’t mentally equipped to operate at a championship level once the championship was taken away.

“The season is lost.”— Josh Pate

Ohio State entered the Oregon game at 6-2. The first loss was 24-23 at Texas on Sept. 12, hardly proof of a broken program. The Buckeyes then beat Iowa 31-14, Maryland 45-16 and Indiana 19-15.

Ohio State went from losing by one point on the road at Texas to losing by 12 at USC and 13 at home against Oregon. The scores moved in the wrong direction, and so did the way the team carried itself in the second half against the Ducks. I’m not accusing players of quitting. The performance lacked the urgency expected from a team wearing that uniform in that stadium.

Oregon deserves its share of this story. The Ducks went 13-2 in 2025, one win better than Ohio State’s 12-2 finish. This wasn’t an overmatched visitor catching a favorite asleep. Oregon arrived with proof that it could operate at the same level Ohio State expects to occupy.

Ohio State has premium players, plenty new to the program, and some are paid a lot of money. The responsibility sits with the staff to build a team that remains connected when the original sales pitch — come here and win a national championship — is no longer available.

The 1996 comparison matters. Ohio State once could assume that the Buckeye logo, the Michigan game and the permanence of a player’s relationship with the program would provide enough reason to finish. Ryan Day cannot make that assumption with this roster. The staff has to build that attachment.

On Nov. 7, recruits and players heard boos and chants calling for coaches to be fired. Other staffs don’t need much material to recruit against instability. Ohio State handed them a full afternoon of it.

Ohio State hosts Michigan at noon on Saturday, Nov. 28. By the end of that game, the Buckeyes’ effort, sideline demeanor and execution under pressure belong in the evaluation Ryan Day makes of his staff and program.

Day is a phenomenal coach. That doesn’t protect him from a hard diagnosis. USC and Oregon made it much harder to defend making no staff changes. How many staff changes are necessary is Day’s call. Deciding that none are necessary would be much harder to defend after USC and Oregon.

The Oregon score cannot be filed away. It was 41-28 at home, seven days after 30-18 at USC. The season is lost.

— JP

Ohio State is 6-2, and the last picture it put on tape was an 18–30 loss at USC on October 31. I’m still picking the Buckeyes to beat Oregon by about 10 points.

Ohio State created enough of its own problems at USC — mistakes and red-zone failures among them — that the loss doesn’t require me to downgrade the entire team to what it looked like for one night. I still believe Ohio State has the better team.

“I just think Ohio State in totality is much better than what they showed last week.”— Josh Pate

Oregon’s counterargument deserves more respect than its 5-3 record gets it. The Ducks went into the same stadium on September 26 and beat USC 41–27. Five weeks later, Ohio State went there and lost by 12. That gives Oregon a much stronger upset case than merely pointing to a good offensive afternoon against Northwestern.

I’m not handing the game to Oregon through the Transitive Property Department. Oregon also lost 21–10 at Illinois on October 24, while Ohio State won 42–19 against Illinois on September 26. Those two games show how much can change week to week.

The larger body of work still favors Ohio State. Its other loss was 24–23 at Texas on September 12. Oregon’s three losses have come against Oklahoma State, UCLA and Illinois. The Ducks followed the Illinois loss with a 34–26 win over Northwestern on October 31, their first game with the new offensive coordinator.

Oregon has to create pressure without letting Jeremiah Smith decide the game on isolated opportunities. Smith doesn’t have to be erased. Oregon just can’t let him decide the game. Ohio State hasn’t been punishing opponents on the ground, and the passing game beyond Smith hasn’t produced another standout target. Oregon needs to affect the quarterback, tilt coverage toward Smith and force somebody else to repeatedly win.

Ohio State should stop Oregon’s running game. Put the Ducks behind the chains, reduce the number of comfortable throws available to Dylan Raiola and make that 34-point performance against Northwestern harder to reproduce on the road. Raiola made several high-level throws in that win. The question in Columbus is how many he gets to attempt from a settled pocket.

An early Oregon lead would put every Ohio State mistake from USC back into the building. The danger for the Buckeyes is that the same red-zone failures and self-inflicted damage survive another Saturday. Oregon has already won at USC and has no reason to enter Columbus impressed by the setting.

I’m trusting Ohio State to correct the controllable problems, stop Oregon’s run and win by about 10. If Oregon wins November 7, I underestimated the USC comparison.

— JP

Ohio State can’t dismiss what Oregon exposed

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