COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As the clock expired Saturday afternoon and the Oregon Ducks erupted in celebration, freshman standout linebacker Justin Flowe, who was sidelined with a boot on his right foot one week after being named Pac-12 freshman of the week, threw his towel on the ground and turned to the Ohio State fans behind him.
"It's over," he yelled. "Go home!"
Actually, it might just be the beginning for Oregon.
With Flowe and starting defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux -- two of the team's top defensive players -- both out with injuries, No. 12 Oregon still found a way to hand the No. 3 Buckeyes their first loss at home in 23 games before a crowd of 100,482 mainly stunned Ohio State fans.
It was the first time Oregon has defeated Ohio State in nine tries, and the Ducks did it with a physical running game that gashed Ohio State's defense inside and out, thanks in part to watching the blueprint Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim scripted in the season opener. They did it with masterful playcalling by Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, whose ability to mix it up kept Ohio State off balance in the 35-28 decision.
And they did it with new Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff watching from his suite in the press box, alongside Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and NCAA president Mark Emmert. (Kliavkoff and Warren also shared a box at the Washington-Michigan game in Ann Arbor later in the evening.) To win at The Shoe -- one of the loudest, most unforgiving venues in college football that opened its doors to a full-capacity crowd for the first time since 2019 -- with a depleted roster spoke volumes about how far Oregon has come under fourth-year head coach Mario Cristobal.
"This is one of the hardest places to play in all of college football," Oregon offensive lineman Alex Forsyth said. "Let's not sugarcoat it."
Time will tell if it truly is the kind of pivotal, program-defining victory it appeared to be on Saturday afternoon, but it elevated the beleaguered Pac-12 just two weeks into the season and gave the conference some legitimate hope for its first playoff contender since Washington in 2016.
"We've been building towards this for a while now, but we're not there yet," Cristobal said. "I don't want to in any way, shape or form give that impression. We're not, and our guys know that too.
"But we've taken massive steps, and I think even more importantly, we've taken massive psychological steps, understanding how important that is going to be on Saturdays ... all those things, they just come into play and they just further strengthen the culture and the direction of the program."
Oregon has won the conference two years in a row, an accomplishment only Clemson and Ohio State also can boast. The Ducks are also in good company with Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma as the only teams to reach a New Year's Six bowl in each of the past two seasons. The last time Oregon was truly positioned among the nation's elite, though, was in 2014, when it lost to Ohio State in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship. The Ducks have since struggled to get back to college football supremacy, but they were at least pointed in the right direction on Saturday.
Oregon racked up 269 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 38 attempts for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. Quarterback Anthony Brown took some shots but stayed composed, throwing for 236 yards and running for 121 more, orchestrating the balance that baffled the Buckeyes. Twelve of Brown's 18 completions went for first downs. The short-staffed defense stifled Ohio State on fourth downs (2-for-5) and came up with two sacks on the last two drives of the game.
The question for the Ducks is whether they can sustain it and continue to improve.
ESPN's Football Power Index favors Oregon to win its remaining games, except an Oct. 23 clash at UCLA (a 47% chance to win). UCLA's victory last week against LSU also raised eyebrows, as many are watching to see if this is the season Bruins coach Chip Kelly's efforts will pay off. The parallel progress of Oregon and UCLA could pit them against each other in the Pac-12 championship game, which would likely eliminate one of them from top-four consideration. It would be a dream scenario for the league, though, if they were both still relevant in the playoff picture at that point.
According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Oregon's chances to reach the CFP were 33% following Saturday's contest, fifth best in the moment. It was a dramatic increase, though, considering Oregon entered the game with a 4% chance to reach a semifinal and was only given a 12% chance to beat the Buckeyes.
Ohio State's chances to make the CFP took a dramatic drop, going from 67% to 23% and putting the Buckeyes sixth, behind the Ducks. But just like Clemson after its season-opening loss to Georgia, the Buckeyes can't be eliminated from the conversation yet. Any Power 5 team with a chance to win its conference is still in the discussion. The question is which team will have the best résumé and the fewest losses.
"I think even more importantly, we've taken massive psychological steps, understanding how important that is going to be on Saturdays ... all those things, they just come into play and they just further strengthen the culture and the direction of the program." Oregon coach Mario Cristobal
Oregon could wind up with a win against the Big Ten champs, which is sure to impress the selection committee through its final ranking, but the Ducks have to survive their own league and UCLA. They've also got a difficult road trip to No. 21 Utah on Nov. 20. The triumph over Ohio State, though, will give them a better win than anything Clemson is likely to have on its résumé, plus Oregon also could have victories against ranked opponents in UCLA, Utah and its opponent in the Pac-12 title game, should it get there. The Ducks also have a head-to-head win, which the committee could use as a tiebreaker if Ohio State and Oregon finish with identical records.
Clemson doesn't currently have any ranked opponents on its regular-season schedule, so it's only win against a top-25 team might come in the ACC title game. Even with Saturday's defeat, Ohio State could still be a more favorable one-loss conference champion in the selection committee meeting room, because the Buckeyes could boost their résumé with wins against Penn State and a top-25 team in the league title game.
Yes, it's early -- very early -- but the result in Columbus further opens a door for the Ducks to kick down.
Cristobal and his program aren't talking playoff yet, nor should they, but it's clear they know they've got something special.
"I think Anthony and this football team are just scratching the surface," Cristobal said.
The improvement between Week 1's unconvincing home win against Fresno State and Saturday's upset in Columbus was glaring. It was also a desperately needed boost for the Pac-12 after an embarrassing Week 1 in which the league went 6-6, including two losses to the Mountain West Conference and No. 20 Washington's mortifying loss to FCS Montana.
"Last week, we had some things that we should have cleaned up this week, even missing some players. Next man up is just something that we've been doing since we since we got here in Oregon," Brown said. "We've been working for a certain mentality that we've built through the offseason. We are capable of a lot of things when we're when we're on point."
It only takes one team to change the narrative, but Oregon knows it takes more than one game.
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