Oregon football is like 18th century American fur trapper Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Academy Award–winning film, The Revenant. Just like Glass, the Ducks have been mauled, wounded and left for dead.

After entering the year ranked second in the AP poll, Oregon’s season began with hardship, as the Ducks survived a scare against Boise State, then were ambushed by the Oklahoma State Cowboys, a loss accentuated by damning indications that the Ducks offense, especially quarterback Dante Moore, were all too predictable based on certain tells. Then, the Ducks lost Moore to a season-ending head injury suffered after a wicked hit from a USC defender in the Ducks’ win over the Trojans. Oregon has been riding the Dylan Raiola roller coaster since, with head-scratching lows against UCLA and Illinois, then thrilling highs against Nebraska and Northwestern.

And Raiola’s latest Houdini act, a 34–26 comeback victory after being down 20–6 to then-No. 20 Northwestern, has opened the door for the Ducks to go on a revenge tour à la Glass, however historically inaccurate the movie may have been.

The first name on Oregon’s revenge list? Ohio State. When these two teams last met in the 2025 Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes eviscerated the Ducks in a beating that was over by halftime. Oregon coach Dan Lanning later admitted he lost sleep over the loss. 

You better believe that Lanning, a shrewd motivator of his players, would relish the opportunity to put a big dent in the Buckeyes’ CFP hopes, which have taken a hit after the season-ending injury to Julian Sayin.

And in addition to revenge, Oregon’s Week 10 meeting with Ohio State presents the Ducks with quite a unique College Football Playoff opportunity. Like a wounded Glass in the woods, the Ducks, however slim the odds are, are still alive in both the race for the Big Ten title game and the CFP. If you squint hard, Oregon, with wins over current Group of 6 leader Boise State and a pair of Top 25 wins over USC and Northwestern, has a halfway decent résumé, one that would look even better with a win against Ohio State, albeit a Buckeyes team with an equally questionable quarterback situation.

And that’s not even taking into account the chaos and carnage that could take place in the Big Ten’s race to the title game, and with a win there, the coveted auto-bid to the CFP. Consider the Armageddon-esque Big Ten scenario in a season that seems perfectly suited to such wild theories: Oregon wins its final four games (all conference contests), USC wins out (and defeats Indiana), UCLA defeats Illinois—which defeated Oregon—and Iowa loses to Northwestern. Such a scenario would put Oregon in a four-way tie for second in the Big Ten with the Hoosiers, Buckeyes and Trojans, and the Ducks would win the tiebreaker based on head-to-head wins (USC and Ohio State) and record against common opponents (Oregon will have beaten USC while Indiana would have lost to the Trojans). Oregon would then take on UCLA in the Big Ten title game, also a rematch of their October meeting.

Is this scenario extremely unlikely? Yes. The Ducks, whose talent-laden defense has underachieved and offense was so inconsistent it resulted in offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer’s firing, haven’t shown anything to make anyone believe it would be likely. Even after the win over Northwestern, Oregon boasts just a 4.2% chance to make the CFP.

But have more absurd things happened? Also yes. Of course, this scenario isn’t possible without the Ducks first winning in Columbus, Ohio, against the Buckeyes. But does anyone who watched Ohio State languish against a USC squad that was hapless offensively a week ago vs. Wisconsin not think Oregon at least has a markedly better shot at beating the Buckeyes than they did a few weeks ago?

So when Oregon takes the field against a suddenly vulnerable Ohio State team, the Ducks won’t just be gunning for revenge. They’ll be looking to pull a Hugh Glass and stay alive despite the most improbable of circumstances.

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