What the Buckeye! Ohio State stunned by Ducks

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 in Columbus, Ohio.

“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 14.5 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 Pac12) were without star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Justin Flowe.

“It’s hard to express in words the magnitude of coming out here down a couple of guys due to injury, and just playing really, really gutsy football, executing at a high level,” Cristobal said.

BREWERS NO-HIT INDIANS

In a sometimes sticky season, Corbin

Burnes got a grip on history.

Milwaukee’s ace combined with reliever Josh Hader to pitch baseball’s record ninth no-hitter this season, breaking a mark set when pitchers began throwing overhand in 1884 as the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Saturday night.

Months after MLB clamped down on pitchers’ use of illicit foreign substances following a rash of early no-hitters, Burnes cemented 2021 as the Season of the No-No with just the second no-hitter in Brewers history.

“It was a masterpiece,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.

Burnes (10-4) struck out 14 with a career-high 115 pitches over eight innings.