Bulletpoints: Oregon

The margins. The margins. The Margins. THE MARGINS.
- Another Ohio State loss where the difference in the game was them getting beat on the margins. Oregon stole a possession in the second quarter by way of whatever that kick was. Whether it was planned or not doesn't really matter. It was another instance of Ohio State's special teams being on the wrong end of a game-changing play in a big game. Even though Oregon only got a field goal out of it, those points were crucial in the outcome of the game.
- The same can be said for Oregon's too-many-men penalty at the end of the game. If that was Dan Lanning's call, it was brilliant - and boneheaded of Ryan Day to not know the rules:

For those wondering, the correct response from the offense is to either call a timeout or let the play clock expire. The penalty would then be called and if the offense called a timeout, it would be given back. https://t.co/88dkh5nVy5
— Zach Ritter (@zachrit) October 13, 2024

This is a coach who constantly loses on the margins to the opposing head coach, and it absolutely kills Ohio State in every big game they play.
There's a lot of back-and-forth about what this loss means for Ohio State. Does it kill their Big Ten/Playoff/National Championship hopes? No! It's one loss in a 12-team playoff world where Ohio State has the benefit of being Ohio State in the committee's eyes. Everything is technically still on the table. Losing on the road to No. 3 Oregon isn't the end of the world on the surface. The problem is that this loss has the same DNA as every other big-game loss under Day.