Oregon stuns No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Verdell watched on TV last week as Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim shredded Ohio State’s disheveled defense early. The Oregon running back thought he could take advantage in the same fashion.
Verdell, who has struggled with injuries the past two seasons, made it happen. He ran for 161 yards and scored three touchdowns as shorthanded No. 12 Oregon stunned No. 3 Ohio State 35-28 on Saturday.
“We saw the Minnesota running back was having a good game, and we wanted to do the same thing,” the 5-foot-8, 211-pound Verdell said.
Verdell and quarterback Anthony Brown exploited holes in Ohio State’s defense and handed the Buckeyes their first regular-season loss in nearly three years and the first of third-year coach Ryan Day’s tenure.
The Buckeyes’ last loss in the regular season came at Purdue in October 2018 under Urban Meyer.
Ohio State (1-1, 1-0 Big Ten) never led the game it was favored to win by 14 ½ points despite gaudy numbers from freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud. Its front seven struggled to contain Verdell, control the edge and get after Brown in front.
“They quickly adapted and just played with grit and toughness, knowing this was going to be a slugfest,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said.
The Ducks (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) were without star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Justin Flowe.
Notre Dame 32, Toledo 29: Jack Coan hit Michael Mayer for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 remaining for the third lead change in a wild fourth quarter and No. 8 Notre Dame held off determined Toledo 32-29 Saturday.
The victory preserved a 25-game home winning streak for Notre Dame (2-0, 1-0 independent) and came after Toledo (1-1, 0-1 MAC) had taken a 29-24 lead on freshman quarterback
Dequan Finn’s 26-yard bootleg TD run with 1:35 remaining. Finn split playing time with sophomore Carter Bradley, who threw for 213 yards.
Coan, who threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame’s season-opening 41-38 overtime victory at Florida State last Sunday, shared playing time with true freshman Tyler Buchner.