One of Ohio State’s greatest memories from the 2024 season is now motivation for its newfound Big Ten rival.
That’s rival in the pure sense of an opponent, not in the sense that Michigan is Ohio State’s rival. Oregon defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei and tight end Kenyon Sadiq both pushed back on that idea at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.
“I feel like any team we play has that rivalry against Oregon to go beat Oregon,” Sadiq said.
There doesn’t seem to be any bitterness from the Ducks toward the Buckeyes. Oregon coach Dan Lanning and Ryan Day almost seem like friends, in fact. But to see a 13-0 season and Big Ten championship eviscerated by the men of scarlet and gray in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl has been a primary fuel for their offseason workouts.
“It definitely motivated us,” Uiagalelei said. “Obviously, it’s not healthy to just dwell on it and just go back to it every moment. But I’d be lying to say our team isn’t fueled by that, us as players, maybe the coaches. But at the same time, you don’t want to just dwell on that, you want to be in the present and move forward from it. Just see what you did wrong and then change it.”
Nobody outside the walls of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center expected the beatdown of the nation’s No. 1 team in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 1.
Ohio State famously led 34-0 in the second quarter (we have a shirt!) after a cavalcade of explosive touchdowns from Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith again and TreVeyon Henderson. This against an Oregon team that, as a reminder, defeated the Buckeyes 32-31 in Eugene during the regular season and won the Big Ten championship its first year in the conference. The Buckeyes won by a 41-21 final scoreline.
“I was pretty shocked, man, walking off the field at the end,” Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher said. “You wouldn't expect it to go that way, given that we'd already beat them. But they just came out with their hair on fire and played a better football game than we did. And that's the way the game goes sometimes.”
“I’d be lying to say our team isn’t fueled by that.”– Matayo Uiagalelei on Oregon's Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State
Beyond the players, Lanning noted at media days that it’s stuck with him, too.
“For me as a coach – I think every coach probably feels this way – but we always remember the losses over the wins,” Lanning said. “I think you can learn from that. It doesn’t take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost to a great team. Coach Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in a position to have success there, and there’s some things that I feel like I could have done better there at the end. I don’t think we played our best football.”
Boettcher sensed another level of motivation from Ohio State when it took the field against Oregon six months ago. More than the scheme or his team’s shortcomings, he believes it played the biggest role in the contest being as unexpectedly lopsided as it was.
“I think they had a chip on their shoulder,” Boettcher said. “I think after losing to us the first time and then losing to Michigan, they had something to prove. And when you have a talented team with something to prove in football, that's a dangerous mix. I'm not saying that we didn't have something to prove. We were 13-0 fresh off of a championship. They just came out hungrier with better players and better scheme, and they beat us.”
Despite their bitter feelings about the Rose Bowl, Oregon’s program isn’t harboring any ill will toward Ohio State. There’s a lot of mutual respect between the emerging Big Ten powerhouse and the ultimate staple Big Ten powerhouse.
“They’ve been a great program for a long time,” Uiagalelei said. “When you go against really good teams, it’s hard to win. You’re not guaranteed any win. But you’re definitely not guaranteed those wins. So you’ve just gotta bring your A-game every time.”
Day and Lanning have spent time getting to know each other off the field. Lanning noted that he’s been cordial with a number of coaches, just recently reaching out to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney to bounce insights off each other. Day and Lanning played a round of golf together this offseason.
“Ryan can bomb a drive,” Lanning said. “I think I can do the others (better) depending on the day, if you ask me. But neither one of us are great golfers. There’s a reason we both coach. But I’ll say, sometimes, sitting in our seat, you meet other people, you see other coaches and there’s this thought that you have to be enemies. The truth is, I have a lot of respect for Ryan, the job he’s done, the pressure that he’s adapted and been able to overcome and the relationship he has with his family. Married to his high school sweetheart. There’s a lot of qualities that I admire about Ryan and the job that he’s done.”
The feeling is mutual from Day. He admires the way Lanning supported his wife, Sauphia, through her battle with Osteocarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer. After a long fight, she’s been cancer-free since 2017.
“I think Dan is a great coach,” Day said. “I think he’s got a great perspective when you really get a chance to know him, which I have. We got a chance to go on the Nike trip together and then also play golf this spring, and when you hear the story about he and his wife and everything his wife has been through, he’s got an unbelievable perspective on the game and what motivates him. You don’t always see that in coaches. So I have a lot of respect for him.”
Ohio State and Oregon aren’t scheduled to play each other in 2025, but that doesn’t eliminate the potential for a rematch in the Big Ten championship game or even another bout in the CFP. Whenever they meet next, though, the Rose Bowl loss will be in the back of the Ducks’ minds.
“It’s not a good feeling at the end of the year,” Sadiq said. “It’s important that we kind of keep that feeling in the back of our minds and use it as fuel going in. I think it’s important that the young guys coming in and transfers understand what that was like. So just use that as motivation going into this year.”
