The Last Time Ducks Visited Columbus They Completed an Amazing Upset Over the Buckeyes

Ohio State against Oregon has become a very pleasant rivalry game over the last five seasons. Ever since joining the Big Ten, the Ducks have been the closest to consistently being on the same level as Ohio State. 

The last two times that these two teams have met up were memorable for two completely different reasons. The Rose Bowl was a total beatdown by the Buckeyes over the Ducks, and the game before that was an all-time finish that Ohio State just ran out of time on thanks to a late slide.

These have been two of the best programs in the nation over the last two years, and they get to renew their rivalry on Saturday in Columbus.

That takes us back to the last time that the Ducks travelled east to visit Ohio State. That time was all the way back in 2021, when the No. 12 Ducks clashed with the No. 3 Buckeyes. It was all Oregon on that day in the Horseshoe, and the entire state of Ohio was left completely stunned.

This trip goes back to the Mario Cristobal days before Dan Lanning took the program over in 2022. The Ducks were facing a complete uphill battle against one of the nation's best teams and the nation's best passing attacks. 

The Ducks came ready and up to the task.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth stalemate that ended with an Ohio State punt that was downed at the Oregon one-yard line 

That was when the scoring began. Oregon ripped off a 10-play, 99-yard drive that ended in 6 points to give them the lead on a CJ Verdell 14-yard touchdown run.

The Buckeyes responded two drives later with a touchdown connection from CJ Stroud to Garrett Wilson, but the tie only lasted 6 plays as the Ducks responded with another Verdell touchdown, this time on a pass.

The lead was stretched to 21-7 at the beginning of the third quarter when Verdell found the end zone for the third time, but this one was on a 77-yard touchdown. The Buckeyes responded with a Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown catch to get it back to a seven-point game.

The Ducks would find the end zone two more times on a short run by Travis Dye and then a touchdown connection from Anthony Brown to Moliki Matavao.

One more JSN score and a TreVeyon Henderson run got the Buckeyes to just a score difference, but then the Ducks' defense stood tall. They forced the Buckeyes' offense to. a punt and an interception for time expired on the final drive. 

It was an impressive performance by the Ducks, one that lives on, especially as they embark on the journey east yet again. A similar result would mean the the Ducks season would still be alive and the Buckeyes' season would likely be done. It's a massive one on Saturday and the Ducks have a chance to do something special.