COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two of Ohio State’s most decorated former wide receivers publicly criticized the Buckeyes on Saturday night, after No. 12 Ohio State surrendered 38 straight points in a 41-28 loss to No. 23 Oregon at Ohio Stadium — a defeat that gave the Buckeyes a three-loss regular season for the first time since 2011, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch and theScore.
Former Buckeyes Curtis Samuel and Michael Thomas each posted multiple times on X during and after the game, Heavy reported. Samuel questioned why freshman receiver Legend Bey was not getting offensive snaps in meaningful parts of the game, calling the young receiver super talented in a post Heavy quoted. Thomas, the former New Orleans Saints star, praised Jeremiah Smith — noting Smith deserved his 100-yard game and touchdown — while criticizing the wider performance in a series of posts, Heavy reported.
The criticism landed because of how the game itself unfolded. Ohio State led 14-0 after the first quarter behind two touchdowns from running back Bo Jackson, the Dispatch reported. Oregon then scored 17 points in the second quarter and 14 more in the third, part of a 38-0 run that theScore reported was the largest scoring run against Ohio State at home since 1999. The Buckeyes went scoreless from late in the first quarter until the fourth, when freshman quarterback Luke Fahey found Smith for a 13-yard touchdown, the Dispatch reported.
Smith finished with seven receptions for 133 yards and that late touchdown, according to Bleacher Report’s account of the game. Oregon backup quarterback Dylan Raiola led the Ducks to 395 yards of total offense, theScore reported, and Oregon running back Dierre Hill Jr. carried 13 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns, including a 46-yard score in the third quarter, Sports Illustrated reported.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed is the shape of the collapse and its cost. Ohio State is 6-3, has lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2011, and was already No. 12 — one spot outside the projected playoff field — when the first College Football Playoff rankings were revealed earlier in the week, the Dispatch reported. The Dispatch’s five-things analysis concluded the at-large playoff path is now improbable, while noting the Buckeyes are not mathematically eliminated from the Big Ten championship game with two conference losses. What remains unknown is how head coach Ryan Day reshapes an offense that has managed with Sayin sidelined by injury and Fahey under center, and whether the public criticism from former players changes anything inside the program this week.
The defensive slide is part of the concern the former players were reacting to. The Dispatch noted Ohio State has allowed 71 points over two weeks, surrendering at least 30 points in consecutive regular-season games for the first time since 2021, and that Oregon converted four third downs of 10 yards or more and caught the Buckeyes off guard with a fake punt late in the second quarter that turned into a touchdown drive.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, now 2-1 against Ohio State with the Ducks, framed his own team very differently after the game. Lanning told reporters his Ducks are resilient — using a colorful one-word comparison that was widely quoted on social media — after Oregon recovered from a 14-0 deficit to keep its own playoff hopes alive at 6-3, Heavy and Sports Illustrated reported.
Related coverage: NewsForce247 reported Oregon’s win in Columbus on Saturday night in an earlier edition, including the 38-point run and the Buckeyes’ third loss — that report and the rest of the weekend’s Ohio sports coverage are available in the Ohio Sports section at NewsForce247.com.
Related coverage from NewsForce247 includes our earlier report on Oregon’s 38 straight points stunning the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe, and our coverage of the Columbus Crew’s playoff win on the same Columbus sports weekend — readers can find both linked from the NewsForce247 Ohio Sports section.
What happens next is a short week of answers. Ohio State hosts Northwestern next, a game the Buckeyes now likely need to win convincingly to keep any Big Ten title-game help scenario alive, while Oregon returns home to face Michigan. Day’s next news conference, and any change at quarterback or in the receiver rotation Samuel questioned, will be the first concrete test of whether Saturday’s criticism was heard.
Photo: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons