Autzen Stadium made an impression on Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.
The Kansas State transfer was “impressed” by the atmosphere created by an Oregon record 60,129 that watched the Ducks beat the Buckeyes earlier this month. Ohio State committed committed four false starts, its most since losing at Michigan in 2021, and had a delay of game before a punt during the 32-31 loss to Oregon on Oct. 12.
“It was up there man, I’m not going to lie, they brought it,” Howard said. “I was saying before the game it was pretty similar to K-State, just the feel. For me, I thought it was a smaller stadium but it got loud. I don’t know what it was about the shape the stadium but it got very loud on the field, especially down there at the end. I think the fact that it was a really good game the whole time kind of kept them in it and credit to them man, they had a good atmosphere.
“It was a tough place to play. I think you take some of that some of that stuff out of the picture, being at a neutral site or if we were at home maybe it’s a different outcome. I was impressed. I’m not going to lie. It was a loud place to play.”
Howard was sacked once, dropping to the turf on the opening play of Ohio State’s final possession, which ended with him sliding at UO’s 26 yard line and time expiring.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Howard each said they believed the quarterback was done with one second left and that receiver Brandon Inniss and Day were both calling timeout to setup a potential game-winning field goal.
“We sent it in (to the Big Ten),” Day said. “They said that there was no time left. Brandon was calling a timeout. I was right next to the referee calling a timeout. You can see it on the coaches’ copy. They said time had run out.”
No. 4 Ohio State (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) hosts Nebraska on Saturday and still has to play at No. 3 Penn State (6-0, 3-0) and hosts No. 13 Indiana (7-0, 4-0) and may need to win out in order to earn a spot in the Big Ten Championship game and a potential rematch with top-ranked Oregon.
“We didn’t want to have to learn this way but we can’t change the past,” Howard said. “It happened man. We got to bounce back from it and use it for good now. There’s no way to go back and change the game. All we got to do is look forward and run the table, win out and see them again in Indy and that’s all we can hope for.”
No. 1 Oregon (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 20 Illinois (6-1, 3-1)
- When: Saturday, Oct. 26
- Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene
- TV channel: CBS
- Stream: Watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a cable provider, use your login information to watch this game on cbssports.com.
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— James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
