At the end of the first quarter Saturday at Ohio Stadium, the #12 Buckeye football team led unranked Oregon 14-0. After that, it was all Ducks, who scored 38 straight points on the way to a 41-28 victory. It was Ohio State’s third loss of the season and, for the first time in 34 years, the second defeat in a row to a team outside the rankings. Here are our three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

1.    The loss to the Ducks seemed to be a convergence of a Buckeye offense that didn’t create explosive plays and a defense that allowed Oregon to control the game for most of the final three quarters. Even though the time of possession and total offense tallies were nearly identical between the teams, the Ducks made bigger plays, including a fake point that led to their first touchdown. 

2.   Even though the numbers indicate that true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey had a solid performance Saturday and his favorite target, Jeremiah Smith, had yet another good day with 113 yards receiving and two touchdowns on seven catches, there was some clear frustration on the part of Smith who could be seen yelling toward the sideline about the way the contest was going in the second half.

3.   What happens now? Conventional wisdom would say that a three-loss team cannot make the playoffs. With three games remaining in the regular season, including the home finale against Michigan, the real question is how the team and its stars will react to a season that has not played out as many thought it would. Can all be forgiven with a convincing win over the Maize and Blue?