Oregon Deals Ohio State a Major Playoff Setback

Ohio State’s bid for a third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance took a severe hit on November 7, when Oregon turned an early deficit into a 41-28 victory at the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes had been the first team outside the playoff field in its opening rankings, but now appear to need an unlikely run to the Big Ten title and a championship-game win to get back into contention.

Oregon trailed 14-3 before a 30-yard gain on a fake punt helped swing the game. The Ducks then scored 35 unanswered points. Both teams entered the season ranked first or second nationally, but each now has three losses, and Oregon holds the tiebreaker between them in the Big Ten race.

Ohio State has fallen in successive regular-season contests, something last seen in 2011. Freshman Luke Fahey started at quarterback while Julian Sayin was sidelined with an injury. The Buckeyes had won five straight after an earlier loss to Texas, but fell at Southern California the previous week.

Alabama, ranked fifth by the playoff committee despite having two losses, responded with a 31-13 road win over LSU. The Crimson Tide have one ranked opponent left on their schedule, while LSU’s playoff prospects are nearly extinguished; the Tigers need to win their remaining games and receive substantial help.

Unbeaten Utah held off BYU 28-20, and unbeaten UCLA defeated Minnesota 34-20 after pulling away in the fourth quarter. Texas also kept its hopes alive with a 34-20 win at Missouri. UCLA reached a 9-0 mark, a feat last achieved in 1998, while Texas is 4-0 against ranked teams and visits LSU next week.