It was a complete turnaround from the previous weekend, where the Ducks struggled against a physical Fresno State squad.
“It’s a continuation of what they learned last week,” said head coach Mario Cristobal after his team’s win. “Last week for two quarters, we didn’t play very well. We came out that first quarter just shot out of a cannon up 14-0 and we got a couple guys hurt and we looked lost a little bit – we lost our way. We weren’t triggering, we weren’t just getting downhill both on offense and on defense until the fourth quarter where we almost felt like our backs were against the wall and guys started looking at each other and saying ‘enough is enough.’”
This time, the Ducks didn’t wait until the fourth quarter to dial it up. Oregon came out swinging on defense, stifling Ohio State’s run game and absolutely suffocating Buckeye quarterback C.J. Stroud, holding him to just seven completed passes for 43 yards in the first quarter. The Ducks offense, led by senior QB Anthony Brown, struggled at first to find their rhythm but once junior running back C.J. Verdell found the endzone on a 14-yard run just 30 seconds into the second quarter, Oregon turned all the way up.
“I think you saw it in pre-game – we do a lot of live stuff in pre-game, make sure that the hips on are on lock and the feet are in the ground and the hands are in inside,” explained Cristobal. “I think it just showed up and it showed up constantly and it also showed up in higher-level execution – really good play calling, really good designs, just all in all a tremendous effort by everybody in the program.”
Verdell finished with 20 carries for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Brown also had a day, finishing 17-of-35 for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He added 10 carries for 65 yards. His yards and points were good and well but it was his leadership and fearless play that inspired and spurred his team to victory.
“He’s such a good player and his heart is ridiculous – it’s what we needed,” said running back Travis Dye. “He stepped up huge, especially this game and last game. He’s just such a great leader as well. Anthony, that’s my guy.”
Of course, Cristobal always knew Brown was special. It was just a matter of time before everyone else did too.
“He was winning over the team towards the end of last season and I think today everybody saw why,” admitted Cristobal. “Besides being a playmaker, his demeanor, his poise is special, its different and he’s a really, really cool in the right way kind of guy.”
The admiration between commander and team goes both ways.
“I got love for them,” said Brown. “I would lay my life on the line for them.”
Ohio State tried to break the Ducks down, trading touchdowns throughout the third and fourth quarter. But the Buckeyes deviated too much from what was working, moving away from a healthy balance of run and pass in favor of forced downfield looks. Stroud finished 35-of-54 for 484 yards and three touchdowns. Ohio State put up 612 yards of offense on Oregon but only averaged 7.2 yards per play. And empty yards are like empty calories – they taste good but provide no real value.
Not even the 100,482-person crowd could save Ohio State head coach Ryan Day because Cristobal & Co. had pregamed for that particular party.
“Throughout the whole week they had the loudspeakers on the field simulating the crowd noise,” divulged Oregon offensive lineman Alex Forsyth. “We came out there and I’m not going to lie it was really loud but the whole week we had been working on both the silent cadence and also just hearing the clap. We really didn’t have to use any silent cadence until the very end when we were kind of backed up. But I thought we did a great job of handling that.”
It’s true, the crowd didn’t get very loud until it was too late. It didn’t matter if it was 90 decibels or 99-yards, Oregon had it all on lock.
