It took Oregon a fake punt to settle in against Ohio State, but once it did, the Ducks looked unstoppable.
Oregon was held scoreless in the first quarter against the Buckeyes. But in the last three quarters, the Ducks scored 17, 14, and 10 points en route to putting up 38 unanswered points in Ohio Stadium last Saturday night.
Leading the Ducks’ offense, quarterback Dylan Raiola seemed to make it look easy at times against Ohio State’s defense. While part of that is due to his talent, given that he’s a former five-star prospect, the Buckeyes’ defense left plenty of open space in the defensive backfield and holes at the line of scrimmage.
Penny Drop 8 Tampa Variation from Ohio State versus Oregon this past Saturday. MRT gets drained out. Couple different ways to play this, depth in the seam helps every scenario, the deep 1/2 player can also cut the MRT off and allow him to take this Dig back once the route is… pic.twitter.com/hBNbz9djnO
— The Ballmanac (@The_Ballmanac) November 9, 2026
3rd & long. MUST get off the field.
Ohio State gets into what looks like Cover 3. Both corners play a divider, Little and Alliegro are the hook players, and Pettijohn and Timmons work the flats.
The Buckeyes bring four instead of three (we brought 3 and dropped 8 often),… pic.twitter.com/mumdCvdUgg
— Buckeye Film Breakdown (@BuckeyeFilmBDN) November 8, 2026
Raiola commented on those easy throws after the game, saying the Ducks saw all of those open seams and holes in the defense throughout their preparation.
Oregon QB Dylan Raiola following Ohio State’s loss to the Ducks: “We were confident in our plan. We saw seams everywhere in their defense when we were game planning for them.”
The Buckeyes go against longtime play-caller and former OSU OC Chip Kelly on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/9w1K6Nizb5
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) November 9, 2026
“We were confident in our plan,” he said. “We saw seams everywhere in their defense when we were game planning for them.”
That’s been a major issue each of the last two games for Matt Patricia’s defense, as Ohio State has allowed USC and Oregon to combine for 71 points, 509 passing yards and 8.0 yards per pass attempt over the last two weeks.
And now, former Ohio State offensive coordinator and longtime NFL coordinator and head coach Chip Kelly comes to Columbus this weekend, as he has gotten the best out of Northwestern’s offense and outperformed expectations in his first season as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator.
Not only that, but Kelly has installed a bunch of unique formations and plays throughout games to try to catch the opposing defenses off guard.
Chip Kelly is DEEP in his bag pic.twitter.com/h6E3olyHJK
— Jake Franklin Football (@JakeFranklinFB) October 31, 2026
Chip Kelly is having fun this year.
Here are some of his best play calls. pic.twitter.com/F15waQRkJE
— Thad Wells (@ThadWells) November 4, 2026
Kelly will surely not only be able to find open space in Ohio State’s defensive backfield if changes aren’t made quickly, but he will once again be in his bag to try to create those opportunities for Northwestern’s offense, all while the Buckeyes are in search of their identity on defense after back-to-back losses.