For a few moments, it looked as though Ohio State’s first big game of the 2024 season might end the same way the Buckeyes’ first big game of the 2023 season did.
When Will Howard connected with Emeka Egbuka for a 26-yard gain to get Ohio State to the 28-yard line with 34 seconds remaining, the Buckeyes were seemingly in position for a thrilling victory in what had been a back-and-forth showdown between two top-three teams. Even if Ohio State hadn’t gained another yard from there, it would have been within Jayden Fielding’s range to potentially make a game-winning field goal, giving the Buckeyes the chance at a last-second road win much like they had against Notre Dame in their fourth game of the season a year ago.
An offensive pass interference penalty against Jeremiah Smith two plays later, however, pushed the Buckeyes back 15 yards and out of field goal range. A five-yard illegal substitution penalty against Oregon two plays later wasn’t enough for the Buckeyes to feel comfortable sending Fielding on to kick, so Ohio State attempted to run one more play with six seconds left to get Fielding back into his comfortable range.
The Buckeyes gained the yardage they needed on a 12-yard run up the middle by Will Howard, but the clock hit zeroes by the time the whistle was blown, ending the game with a 32-31 final score.
A quick pass to the sideline was the actual plan on that play, as Howard said the Buckeyes had dialed up a flood concept to the boundary. When he didn’t see anyone open, however, Howard felt he had no choice but to take off and gain the yardage the Buckeyes felt they needed. Technically, Howard did hit the ground with one second left on the clock, but Ohio State would have had to have been granted its final timeout immediately, which did not happen as Oregon fans instead flooded the field in celebration.
IT'S OVER.
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 13, 2024
NO. 3 OREGON TOPPLES NO. 2 OHIO STATE IN EUGENE. WHAT A GAME. pic.twitter.com/pzrROxapap
Howard views that final play as something he has to learn from for the next time Ohio State needs him to lead a game-winning drive.
“I was worried about trying to get enough yards to make the field goal and get us into field goal range, but we gotta go back and look at it and figure out what we did wrong there and I gotta get down,” Howard said. “We gotta learn from it.”
While it’s hard to fault the officials for not granting Ohio State a timeout with less than a second left on the clock, the pass interference call against Smith was a little more controversial, as Oregon cornerback Nikko Reed made initial contact with Smith before he pushed off. While Ryan Day didn’t directly say it was a bad call, he implied that he disagreed with the penalty.
BRUTAL time to have a pass interference penalty pic.twitter.com/eMtUVdUH7W
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 13, 2024
“In the one play there, DB's grabbing on Jeremiah, Jeremiah's fighting there, they called the flag there and that cost us,” Day said after the game.
Howard said he didn’t see what happened on the play but was frustrated that the penalty had such a big impact on the outcome of the game.
“I don't wanna speak on that, but it sucks when you're in field goal range like that and a call is why you're kicked out of it,” Howard said. “That’s a shame.”
That said, the Buckeyes can’t blame their loss to Oregon on one questionable penalty call. Their previous drive ended with settling for a field goal after driving inside the red zone, which allowed Oregon to take the lead with a field goal on its subsequent drive when the Ducks would have otherwise needed to go for it on 4th-and-goal. One drive before that, a dropped shotgun snap by Howard on third down forced Ohio State to punt from its own territory, giving Oregon the ball back at the 40-yard line; Oregon capitalized on that field position with a five-play, 60-yard touchdown drive.
Statistically, Ohio State’s offense was much better than its defense against Oregon. The Buckeyes gained 464 yards against the Ducks, with Howard throwing for 326 of those, while its defense gave up 496 yards. Missed opportunities late in the game, however, give Ohio State’s offense plenty to work on in the upcoming bye week as the Buckeyes enter their second half of the regular season.
“I hope it lights a little fire under us, man, because I still got all the belief in the world in this team,” Howard said. “I don’t think (Oregon) necessarily beat us, I think we beat ourselves a little bit. I think we left some stuff out there that we gotta learn from and get better because of. But at the end of the day, I think this is a good team and we're gonna see them again (in a potential Big Ten Championship Game). I think the message has to be, we gotta grow from this and learn from this. This obviously isn't how you wanna do it, but you can't let them beat you twice.”
Ohio State entered the season with a mantra that it wanted to “leave no doubt,” but the Buckeyes failed to do that against the Ducks, which Day said is what they need to focus on as they work toward improving off of what they hope will be their only loss of the season.
“It shouldn't come down to one play,” Day said. “We want to leave no doubt, and I felt like we should have done that tonight. We did not. And so then, you put it in the hands of a call and you don't get it, then that's on us. It should have never come down to that situation. We had too many (explosive plays allowed on defense) tonight. We turned the ball over in the first half, and it cost us. And so we got to do a better job of handling those situations and playing better overall.”
