Halloween delivered its scariest trick in Los Angeles. The Ohio State loss was a 30-18 stunner at the L.A. Coliseum, where the No. 2 Buckeyes fell to USC, according to ESPN’s box score, in their first game without quarterback Julian Sayin.
Nobody had this one on the bingo card. Yahoo Sports called it the most shocking result of the day, and it came on a Saturday packed with upsets.
How the Ohio State loss unfolded
USC jumped out fast. The Trojans led 14-3 after one quarter and 20-9 at the half, per ESPN’s line score. Ohio State never really threatened after that, getting outscored 10-9 over the final two quarters.
The Buckeyes scored just one touchdown all night, Eleven Warriors reports. Still, the offense wasn’t a total wreck. First-time starter Luke Fahey went 21 of 38 for 260 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
That is not a bad debut. It just wasn’t enough.
The bigger problem was on the other side of the ball. Ohio State gave up 30 points for the first time since its 32-31 loss to Oregon in 2024. For a defense with national title expectations, that is a rough stat to wake up to on Sunday.
Here’s the thing: the Coliseum keeps winning
Ohio State has now lost five straight games at the Coliseum against USC and hasn’t won there since 1946. Some venues just have your number, and this one has had it for a very long time.
For Lincoln Riley, the win matters in its own right. Yahoo Sports says the USC coach finally has a signature win in LA. USC moves to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten.
What it means for the playoff race
Ohio State drops to 6-2, 4-1 in the Big Ten. This is the second loss of the year for the defending national champions, following a 23-24 loss at No. 4 Texas on Sept. 12, per the school’s schedule page.
So how bad is the damage? Eleven Warriors’ view is that the Buckeyes will likely need to win out in November. That is the outlet’s own read, not an official line, but it sounds about right. For context on how thin the unbeaten ranks have become, see our look at the AP Top 25 and the few unbeaten teams left.
The schedule does them no favors. Oregon visits Ohio Stadium on Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. Northwestern comes next on Nov. 14, then a trip to Nebraska on Nov. 21. The season-ender on Nov. 28 is Michigan at noon on FOX. Michigan has its own Big Ten test first, as our preview of Michigan vs. Rutgers explains.
One caution: the reason Sayin is out, and for how long, has not been confirmed in the reporting we trust, and there are no postgame quotes from Ryan Day yet. We’ll update when Ohio State says more.
The upset also wasn’t the only scare on the board. Our rundown of the scariest games for playoff contenders shows how many top teams faced a trap this season.
For now, the Buckeyes have one week to build an offense without its starter and fix a defense that just got run over. Oregon is not going to wait for them to sort it out.
So who’s ready in Columbus?
