EUGENE, Ore. – Will Howard couldn’t believe it.

As he slid and set up what he thought would be a game-tying field goal attempt for Jayden Fielding, Howard heard the whistle. He looked at the clock and saw that the time had passed. He threw the ball down and put his head in his hands as Oregon fans stormed the field around him.

The game was over. Fielding didn’t get a chance to kick and the Buckeyes went home after losing Saturday’s classic top-three matchup 32-31.

Sitting on the ground, Howard was still in disbelief as he thought he had fallen in time.

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“I don’t think I did that,” he said. “I was focused on getting us into field goal range. … I have to go down, I think.”

That play will leave a bad taste in his mouth after an otherwise excellent game. Ohio State and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly put the game in his hands, and he delivered, completing 28 of 35 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard slipped on the final play at Oregon on Saturday, but the clock ran out before the Buckeyes could call a timeout. (Troy Wayrynen/Imagn Images)

“It sucks,” Howard said. “You don’t want to lose a match like that.”

Although Howard will make it tough on himself, the loss will not fall entirely on his shoulders. In front of a record 60,129 spectators at Autzen Stadium, the Buckeyes faltered in the biggest moments and amid the almost deafening noise in the stadium.

IT’S OVER. 🦆

NO. 3 OREGON TOPPLES NO. 2 STATE OF OHIO IN EUGENE. WHAT A GAME. pic.twitter.com/pzrROxapap

– NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 13, 2024

The final play was a microcosm of bigger mistakes like penalties, missed assignments, a defense that should have been the best in the country and coverages all over the field, along with plenty of mental mistakes. For a team with as much experience as Ohio State, that’s a problem. Those are mistakes that can’t be made in big games, especially on the road.

Despite the loss, the season is far from over. All the goals the Buckeyes had in the preseason are still there because of the expanded College Football Playoff. But if Ohio State wants to get to them, the margin for error has narrowed and the issues that plagued the Buckeyes in Oregon must be resolved.

Howard knew how much time was on the clock and how many yards Ohio State wanted to get on its last play. It wanted 15 yards, so it called a flood concept to the boundary, with freshman Jeremiah Smith running a dig route on the back end.

With just six seconds on the clock, Howard didn’t have much time for the pattern to develop, and when a defensive lineman flashed in his face as he went to throw, he decided to scramble. It was his best option, but it shouldn’t have come down to that play.

Ryan Day has said all offseason that Ohio State should “leave no doubt” in these matchup games, but the company hasn’t done that at all. Instead, Ohio State left things to a questionable offensive pass interference call on Jeremiah Smith with 26 seconds left.

“It shouldn’t come down to one play,” Day said. “We don’t want to leave any doubt. I felt like we should have done that today, and we didn’t. If you put it in the hands of a caller and you don’t get it, that’s our responsibility.”

GO DEEPER

Dan Lanning’s biggest win yet in Oregon increases the pressure on Ohio State’s Ryan Day

The sentiment from the program is that it cost itself a chance at a big win.

“I don’t think they necessarily beat us; I think we beat ourselves a little bit,” Howard said. “We left some things behind that we need to learn from and get better as a result.”

He’s right. The talent difference wasn’t glaring, but Ohio State certainly made more mistakes. On every chance it got control of the game, something happened that gave Oregon a chance to regain momentum.

It started immediately. Ohio State opened the game with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive before getting a stop on defense. With a chance to go up two scores, star running back Quinshon Judkins fumbled, and Oregon scored two plays later.

“We talk about caring for football. To turn the ball over there and get it into plus territory was a huge play in the game,” Day said.

It was one of those days for Ohio State, which scored just once in the second half. That came after Howard dropped an accurate snap from center Seth McLaughlin to push Ohio State from third-and-3 to fourth-and-13. But that wasn’t the only mistake of the second half.

Trailing by one with eight minutes to play, right guard Tegra Tshabola was called for a false start that Ohio State backed, and three plays later had to settle for a field goal.

Those don’t seem like big plays, but they were small mistakes that added up. Ohio State finished with eight penalties: six on offense, two on defense. The six penalties came on three separate offensive drives, and Ohio State scored three points combined.

“Penalties are a matter of discipline, and when you play in an environment like this you can’t be overcome by events,” Howard said. “There were too many penalties today, we’ll have to go back and look at the film and correct them.”

These were all mistakes Ohio State couldn’t afford, especially when it lost the turnover battle and gave up 496 yards of total offense.

The defense is a different story. A group that should be one of the best in the country gave up eight plays of more than 25 yards and couldn’t find a way to pressure quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Saturday’s game was the most anticipated game on the Big Ten schedule. It felt like Ohio State’s opportunity to solidify itself as a national contender and eliminate any concerns about losing big games under Day.

Instead, it enters its bye week looking for answers that have plagued the program. Why can’t it make the right play in the biggest moments?

Too talented to miss the Playoff, Ohio State still has a chance to take the lead and get a rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten title game. But it won’t win the national championship unless it is the most disciplined team on the field, not just the most talented.

“The message has to be that we have to grow from this and learn from this,” Howard said. “This isn’t how you want to do it, but you can’t let it beat you twice.”

(Top photo: Adam Cairns/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)