Oregon did not beat Ohio State by accident. Dan Lanning had a secret weapon ready months before the showdown, and he just revealed it. From months of preparation to a perfectly timed execution, the Ducks coach offered a glimpse into the strategy behind the 41-28 win. The blueprint is out in the open now.

“As a team, that’s a punt we’ve been working on since fall camp, right? Lanning said during the post-game conference on November 7. “And we’ve had a long history of running fake punts, so we just haven’t seen a lot of teams that have given us an opportunity where we could potentially hit that. And the fake punts that we’ve run in the past were not there, right? So we felt like that would be something people would play aggressively to.”

Oregon trailed Ohio State 14-3 with about two to three minutes left in the first half when Dan Lanning pulled off a gutsy fake punt on 4th-and-9 from the Ducks’ own 31-yard line. Teitum Tuioti took the direct snap and threw a 30-yard pass down the right sideline to Matayo Uiagalelei, catching the Buckeyes off guard and keeping Oregon’s drive alive.

“Obviously, if it didn’t work, you guys can have a heyday, you know, with me, especially in our own territory,” he added. “But that’s where fakes do work, right? And we felt like we’d punted a couple times at that point.”

Ohio State’s defense was controlling Oregon’s offense in the first quarter, and Oregon managed only 61 total yards in that quarter. But the tables turned in the second quarter. Oregon found its mojo back and started making important plays.

They converted two third-down situations where they needed at least 10 yards to keep their drives alive. One particularly important play came on third-and-15. Raiola threw a pass to running back Dierre Hill Jr., who caught it out of the backfield and gained 20 yards, taking Oregon all the way to Ohio State’s 9-yard line. Later, Hill scored a touchdown.

Ohio State’s defenders were completely caught off guard. The fake punt kept Oregon’s drive alive, and the Ducks eventually scored to cut the deficit to 14-10. But it wasn’t a fluke; it was a well-practiced play by Lanning.

“We’d seen a look that we felt confident about. “Hey, it’s going to be there,” and I don’t know how many times we ran that in practice,” Lanning said in the same conference. “So when you talk about your players consistently in team meetings and special teams, and then you get an opportunity to go execute it on the field, and it has the success that it has, you know, I think it’s like everybody’s like, okay, we got this. Let’s go. And it certainly created some momentum.”

Oregon began its comeback with Dierre Hill Jr.’s touchdown, cutting Ohio State’s 14-0 lead to 14-7 before the Buckeyes handed the Ducks another opening. Fahey threw an interception on Ohio State’s next possession, and Oregon capitalized with another touchdown before halftime. In just a few possessions, the Ducks had erased a 14-point deficit and taken a 17-14 lead into the break.

Oregon started the second half with a strong offensive drive. Running back Dierre Hill Jr. ran to the side of the field. Three Buckeyes defenders tried to tackle him, but he broke through all three attempts. He ran for 48 yards, scored a touchdown, and took the lead, 24-14. Eventually, what started as a 14-0 lead ended with a 41-28 loss for the Buckeyes.