Saturday’s instant classic between Oregon and Ohio State came down to the final seconds – and a savvy move by the Ducks coaching staff as the clock was winding down may have been the ever-so-slight difference between winning and losing.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning all but admitted on Monday that a penalty called on the Ducks on the next-to-last play of the game was intentional, allowing precious seconds to run off the clock and thwart Ohio State’s comeback attempt.
The game ended as Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard was scrambling to gain extra yards and set OSU up for a potential game-winning field goal. However, one play earlier, Oregon was penalized for having too many men on the field while defending a third-and-25 at the Ducks’ 43-yard line.
A smiling Lanning told reporters the team discussed its strategy during a timeout just before the third down play.
‘We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations … there are some situations that don’t show up very often in college football, but this was one that, obviously, was something that we had worked on,’ Lanning said. ‘You can see the result.’
Leading by one point with only 10 seconds left, Oregon snuck an extra defender onto the field following the timeout as Ohio State failed to complete a pass on the play.
The penalty gave the Buckeyes an extra five yards, but since it was a live-ball foul, it also took four precious seconds off the clock – a trade Oregon would gladly make, and one that ended up making a huge difference as Howard used up the remaining six seconds on his scramble.
The game ended with the Buckeyes at the Ducks’ 26-yard line and no time left for a potential game-winning field goal.
With its 32-31 win, Oregon remained undefeated and took over the No. 2 spot in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll behind top-ranked Texas.
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