Even Ohio State’s mascot seemed to have seen enough in Oregon loss

The crowd of 103,551 at Ohio Stadium had been thinning since the third quarter Saturday, and by the time the Oregon Ducks had the Ohio State Buckeyes buried, Brutus Buckeye was on camera heading the same direction as the fans. The mascot was filmed walking through a concourse, away from the field, during Oregon's 41-28 win.

Barstool Sports posted the clip with a caption that summed up the mood in Columbus. "Ohio State is losing so bad even Brutus left the building," Barstool Sports wrote .

Boos rolled through the stadium in the second half, and Eleven Warriors heard fans calling for Ryan Day to be fired as the clock ran out. It was a long way from the first quarter, when Bo Jackson ran for touchdowns from 16 and 8 yards and Ohio State led 14-0.

Oregon scored the next 38 points. Day pointed afterward to the second quarter, when Ohio State came away empty on two possessions and Oregon converted a fake punt on fourth-and-9, with linebacker Teitum Tuioti throwing to fellow linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei for 30 yards.

"Well, I think really where the game …I think anyone could see where the game changed was when we lost those two possessions there in the second quarter, and you know they hit the fake punt on us, which is extremely disappointing on our end," Day said.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning saw the same game from the other side. "A lot of credit to our players for really not flinching, not blinking when you're down 14, and then just keep fighting," Lanning said .

The loss was Ohio State's second straight, which last happened in 2011, and the Buckeyes now have three regular-season losses for the first time in Day's eight seasons. It was also the first time since October 1992 that Ohio State lost back-to-back games to opponents outside the AP Top 25.

They entered the weekend No. 12 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and their playoff hopes are close to gone with the Northwestern Wildcats, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Michigan Wolverines left.

Day addressed the record directly in his postgame news conference.

"Not someplace we thought we'd be. Beyond disappointed; understand what the expectations are. It's the first thing when you walk into the Woody, you join our program, is you understand what the expectations are. Your expectation is to win every game here. So to win or to lose three games is unacceptable," Day said.