Devin Sanchez returns, Teitum Tuioti hurt in Oregon win

The scare came in the 2nd quarter, on special teams. Sanchez went down covering an Oregon punt, and Ohio State fans held their breath.

It got worse before it got better. Sanchez's foot got tangled up with an Oregon player on the punt, and after he went to the medical tent he was carted back to the locker room with about 4 minutes left in the half. When a starting corner rides a cart in a game this big, you assume the worst. Then halftime ended and he was back.

The comeback didn't last the whole night. Sanchez only played part of the second half and finished the game on the sideline without his helmet, so his status is still worth watching this week. Ohio State's injury trouble didn't stop with him, either. On the very first defensive snap of the second half, defensive tackle Eddrick Houston was on his back too, and it looked a lot like what happened to him at USC the week before.

Houston turned out to be the toughest guy in the building. He spent only a few minutes in the tent, came back, and made a tackle for loss on his first snap. That's the good news for the Buckeyes. The bad news is that none of it mattered on the scoreboard. Ohio State jumped out to an early 2-touchdown lead, Oregon came all the way back, Dylan Raiola threw for 257 yards, Dierre Hill Jr. ran for 2 scores, and the Ducks walked out of Columbus with a 41-28 win. Losing at home in November puts a big dent in the Buckeyes' playoff hopes.

Oregon paid for the win. Tuioti went down on a fourth-and-13 pass rush with 9:16 left in the game. His left leg buckled while he tried to spin out of a block, and the whole Oregon training staff ran out to him, with Dan Lanning right behind them. Both sidelines went quiet.

Tuioti got off the field with help from trainers and went straight to the medical tent. By the final whistle he was wearing a brace and was carted to the locker room. It's a rough way to end a night when he also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to fellow linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei on a trick play with a direct snap. After the game Lanning said, "We'll wait to hear from our medical staff. I know he's tough so I'm praying for good news there." Oregon has no diagnosis yet, and that's the big thing to watch for the Ducks this week. They just made their biggest statement of the season, and now they may have to keep going without one of their edge rushers.