Rece Davis, Pete Thamel react to Will Howard's slide that ended game vs. Oregon

A one-point thriller in Autzen Stadium could have ended differently if there was one more second left on the clock.

That’s probably all Ohio State quarterback Will Howard needed to get down in time for the Buckeyes to use their final timeout and kick a potential game-winning field goal.

But Howard didn’t get down in time, Oregon won, and now Ohio State has an off week to hit the reset button and try to move past the “what ifs” of an incredible top-three showdown in Eugene.

“Can’t think of a worse way for Ohio State, for that game to end that way,” ESPN’s Rece Davis said Monday on the “College GameDay Podcast.”

“The situational awareness, the idea that he would have probably been better off heaving the ball toward the end zone, hoping for a pass interference penalty or, better yet, just have Jeremiah Smith rise above the crowd and catch it amidst the flock of Ducks and win the game. … He only needs one hand most of the time. But there was a learning experience opportunity there, because there was a little anxiety and panic going there, and you could sense it, that Ohio State needs to learn from.”

Davis continued: “It wasn’t Will’s best moment — to go and slide and end the game like that is cutting it way too close. And a quarterback who’s played as much as he has and is old as he is, he knows. He doesn’t need this podcast to tell him that he’s got to be a little more aware of the clock and time and space and all of that type of thing.”

Davis described Howard’s mistimed slide as “an unfortunate ending” to a valiant performance from the Kansas State graduate transfer. After all, Howard completed 80% of his passes on the night, going 28-of-35, while turning in the first 300-yard passing game of his Buckeyes career. Plus, he accounted for three touchdowns, two passing and one rushing.

Howard got the ball back with 1:47 remaining and one timeout left, facing a 32-31 deficit. A 26-yard completion to senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka slingshotted Ohio State to the Oregon 28-yard line, setting up a 1st-and-10 with 34 seconds left and that lone Buckeyes timeout still in head coach Ryan Day’s back pocket.

One play later, Smith was called for a controversial offensive pass interference penalty that pushed Ohio State back 15 yards and out of its target field goal range. That ultimately led the Buckeyes to try to make up yardage in the game’s waning ticks with an eye toward a last-second field goal. Kicker Jayden Fielding never got that opportunity.

Davis said that, really, Howard’s slide itself wasn’t the sole culprit of Ohio State’s late-game mismanagement. ESPN insider Pete Thamel agreed.

“There’s a lot going on there,” Thamel said in reference to Howard’s decision to slide. “It was close now. And, again, bad moment, unforgivable moment. … I thought he played well, by the way, for the first 58 minutes.

“He flat missed Smith on the third down before they kicked the 40-yard field goal. And I thought that was like one of the open throws that he had made the entire game that you just need to make. Now, [Smith] was a little before the sticks, but that’s a big hombre as we saw in the pass interference call.”

Thamel went on: “For Ohio State, I bet there was a lot of head scratching on that long flight back. How they were 1st-and-10 from the [28], and they end up out of field goal range. … When the seven seconds ran off the clock after the [offensive pass interference] penalty, [Howard] looked as if he knew what was happening, but the rest of the operation did not. And, look, give Autzen some credit. I want to say they had five pre-snap penalties. I didn’t get that from the box score, but that was just anecdotally and [from] watching. I mean, that was a raucous environment that shook [Ohio State’s] operation.”

When all was said and done, Ohio State had four false start penalties and one delay of game infraction. The Buckeyes also lost two possessions, one on a fumble from running back Quinshon Judkins in the first quarter and one on Oregon’s second quarter onside kick. Plus, they allowed 496 yards and 32 points.

So while Howard’s slide ended the game — and it certainly wasn’t a good moment for the veteran Howard — it didn’t tell the whole story of the Buckeyes’ defeat in Eugene.