College Football

RJ Young's Top 25: Ducks soar to No. 2 after stunning Ohio State in Columbus

Published Sep. 12, 2021 2:32 a.m. ET

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By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

Editor’s note: Every Sunday morning during the college football season, RJ Young will release his updated Top 25 rankings.

Oregon stunned Ohio State 35-28 at the Shoe on Saturday. That’s good enough for No. 2.

And on this fateful day, the Pac-12 was resurrected and presented a path for its hero’s journey, in an effort to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time in five years.

Joel Klatt recaps Oregon's 35-28 win over Ohio State at The Shoe ' In the Booth

Joel Klatt breaks down the biggest storylines from Oregon’s upset victory at Ohio State, including what the win means for the Pac-12.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day said earlier this week on his radio show that he recruited Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown while the senior was still at Boston College.

That ought to have been our first clue about what Brown can do for you. He finished 17-for-35 for 236 with two tuddees through the air and added another 65 yards on 10 rushes.

But it was Oregon running back CJ Verdell, who closed the sale in Columbus, with three total TDs and 194 total yards from scrimmage.

Ohio State walked into this game with two clenched fists. Oregon walked in shirtless like Killmonger and then tossed the Buckeyes' body over the waterfall like, "Is this your king? Is this your king?! No, I’m your king!"

And the Ducks did it against perhaps the biggest offensive line in the sport.

Left tackle Nicholas Petit-Frère is 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds. Left guard Thayer Munford is 6-6, 320. Center Luke Wypler is 6-3, 300. Right guard Paris Johnson Jr. is 6-6, 315. Right tackle Dawand Jones is 6-8, 360. 

When those boys go out to eat, they don't get a menu. They get an estimate. 

But the Oregon defensive line stuck them with the whole check. And moments after that offensive line of Ohio State Asagardians allowed their first sack of the season, Buckeye quarterback C.J. Stroud threw an interception with 3:04 left to play. Prior to the pick, Stroud had completed 34 of 53 passes for 472 yards with three TDs.

CJ Verdell breaks off a 77-yard TD run to give Oregon a 14-point advantage

CJ Verdell's 77-yard rushing TD stunned the crowd in Columbus and helped Oregon seize control in the third quarter.

The pick sealed the upset for an Oregon squad that came into the game without linebacker Justin Flowe or presumptive 2022 No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux.

The Ducks defense stopped Ohio State on fourth down twice in the first half and three times in the game.

The first quarter ended scoreless for Ohio State for just the third time in the Day time era. The other two times it happened were against Wisconsin, and one of those was in the 2019 Big Ten title game.

The Ducks offensive line was mashing Bucknuts into peanut butter, not unlike the Minnesota offensive line did in Week 1. 

Matter of fact, Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim rushed 30 times for 163 rush yards in three quarters in Game 1 against Ohio State. Verdell rushed 20 times for 161 rush yards in Game 2 vs. Ohio State. In both games, the defense has given up at least 31 points. 

The two teams piled up 1,100 yards of offense Saturday, when we learned the 2021 Ohio State Buckeyes have a 2018 Oklahoma Sooners problem. Like the D in "Django," the defense is silent.

You know what else we've learned from Oregon's win? Fresno State is a doggone good football team.

And, to think, the Oregon offensive playbook was simply just two words Saturday: Run left. That's almost as insulting as leaving a Duck on the O-block logo at the shoe, which totally happened.

Now, to the updated rankings:

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (2-0)
Defeated Mercer 48-14

No. 2 Oregon Ducks (2-0)
Defeated Ohio State 35-28

No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (2-0)
Defeated Alabama-Birmingham 56-7

Georgia had UAB on the schedule and felt so good about its chances that the Bulldogs started the Ryan Fitzpatrick of College Football, Stetson Bennett. They whooped the Dragons like they had Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings.

No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0)
Defeated Iowa State 27-17

Iowa's defense has scored three TDs in two games. The Hawkeyes have forced seven takeaways on the season, and they scored 17 points off turnovers against Iowa State alone. 

Led by a defense that has allowed just 16 points, Iowa is legit. The Hawkeyes now own two Top 25 wins in two games and are the only program in the country who can say that.

Iowa could own the Big Ten West and threaten the Buckeyes for conference supremacy.

No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners (2-0)
Defeated Western Carolina 76-0

No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0)
Defeated Ball State 44-13

Sean Clifford racks up 291 total yards, two total TDs in No. 11 Penn State's 44-13 win over Ball St.

Penn State racked up almost 500 yards of offense in a decisive 44-13 victory over Ball State. Sean Clifford threw for 230 yards and a TD.

No. 7 UCLA Bruins (2-0)
Bye week

No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0)
Defeated Toledo 32-29

Notre Dame needed to mount a comeback from down 29-22 with 1:35 left to play so as not to lose to the game – in addition to the $1 million guarantee it owed the Rockets for playing the game in South Bend. But they did win, and winning matters. Survive and advance.

No. 9 Ohio State (1-1)
Lost to Oregon 35-28

No. 10 Clemson (1-1)
Defeated South Carolina State 49-3

Both Ohio State and Clemson have taken losses to top-ranked teams. Clemson’s first win came against an FCS opponent. Ohio State’s first win came against a conference rival. Clemson lost to the SEC East favorite on a neutral site. The Buckeyes lost to the defending Pac-12 champ at home. Ohio State has the edge on strength of schedule played here.

No. 11 Arkansas (2-0)
Defeated Texas 40-21

The Razorbacks ran up 333 yards rushing and ran off starting quarterback Hudson Card in their win against a ranked Texas team. The Hogs look capable of beating the Aggies come Sept. 25.

No. 12 Texas A&M (2-0)
Defeated Colorado 10-7

Starting Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King was injured early, and Ampersand U backup quarterback Zach Calzada replaced him. But at halftime, Karl Dorrell's Buffaloes led the Farmers 7-3 in Denver. Expect more from A&M than a squeaker against a Colorado team that might be the fifth-best team in the Pac-12 South. Wins against Kent State and the Buffaloes are difficult to call impressive.

No. 13 Coastal Carolina (2-0)
Defeated Kansas 49-22

No. 14 Virginia Tech (2-0)
Defeated Middle Tennessee 35-14

Followed up nicely on its top-10 win against UNC.

No. 15 Cincinnati (2-0)
Defeated Murray State 42-7

Bearcats also beat Miami of Ohio 49-14 to start the season, and still ain’t played nobody.

No. 16 Rutgers (2-0)
Defeated Syracuse 17-7

Rutgers has forced eight turnovers, notched seven sacks and outscored opponents in two games. You better watch your pockets when you play in Piscataway because these men are liable to empty them.

No. 17 Arizona State (2-0)
Defeated UNLV 37-10

No. 18 Michigan State (2-0)
Defeated Youngstown State 42-14

No. 19 BYU (2-0)
Defeated Utah 26-17

No. 20 Texas Christian (2-0)
Defeated Cal 34-32

No. 21 Florida (2-0)
Defeated South Florida 42-20

No. 22  Ole Miss (2-0)
Defeated Austin Peay 54-17

The Rebels put up 97 points in six days, and Ole Miss QB Matt Corral has thrown for an average of 331 yards in two games with six total TDs. The SEC West is going to end in a dogfight, even with Alabama on top. Every team but LSU is ranked here.

No. 23 Kansas State (2-0)
Defeated Southern Illinois 31-23

The loss of quarterback Skylar Thompson to injury in the first quarter gave K-State a chance to demonstrate depth. Instead, it managed a one-score win against an FCS opponent. However, the Cats soundly beat a Stanford team that just knocked off a top 25 USC Trojan team.

No. 24 Auburn (2-0)
Defeated Alabama State 62-0

The Tigers have outscored opponents 122-10 in their first two games. The problem is those opponents are Akron and Alabama State, who are a combined 1-3 and nothing like the competition the Tigers face in Penn State next week.

No. 25 Virginia (2-0)
Defeated Illinois 42-14

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.

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