The Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the Oregon Ducks, 32-31, in a primetime thriller between top five teams on Saturday in Eugene, OR.
The game came down to the final possession, where the Buckeyes drove down the field in hopes of setting up for at least a game-winning field goal try. However, clock management and an offensive pass interference call on freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith proved to be consequential in the one-point loss, that was sealed after quarterback Will Howard lost track of time on a scramble and couldn't use the team's final timeout before time expired.
Despite the close loss, it's clear that the Buckeyes are still one of the top national championship contenders in the sport. While disappointed in the loss, star running back Quinshod Judkins was encouraged by his team's fight.
"My team, you know, we're fighters," Judkins told Sports Illustrated's Claudette Montana on behalf of his partnership with Icy Hot. "It really just came down to the last play. That whole game, our guys fought on both sides of the ball and I'm just super glad to see how our guys responded to adversity."
The loss doesn't eliminate Ohio State from any of its goals. The Buckeyes are still contenders to make it to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game (perhaps in a rematch with the Ducks), and still have College Football Playoff aspirations that they'd like to realize.
However, there's no time to rest of their laurels with a tough schedule still ahead. The Buckeyes have three ranked matchups remaining on the slate, including a road trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State along with two straight ranked home matchups with Indiana and of course, Michigan, to finish out the regular season. But what's even more important to Judkins is not looking too far ahead and focusing on the task at hand.
"Something that we've been doing really well this season is focusing on the game that we're playing that particular week," Judkins said. "Not looking ahead at our schedule and being where our feet are. Just trying to be focused and not be distracted by anything else or looking too far down the road. I think that's helped us so much in preparing the right way every single week. If we keep that mindset I think we'll be fine."
Ohio State is off this coming weekend before returning home to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 26. Kickoff is set for Noon ET in Columbus.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins Calls Team 'Fighters' Amid Road Loss vs. Oregon.
