Ohio State football offensive coordinator Chip Kelly took a jab at his former employer and one of the two opponents to beat the Buckeyes this week on Saturday.
Kelly, who is in his first season with OSU, criticized the Ducks for taking a penalty purposely during their regular-season 32-31 win over the Buckeyes in Eugene, Oregon, while praising his national championship opponent, Notre Dame.
“They can double anybody they want, but they can’t double everybody,” Kelly said when talking about Notre Dame’s coverage options for Monday’s game. “If they do, it’s a penalty—they have too many guys on the field. And we saw that before against some team, sometime before in a game.”
Kelly was alluding to Oregon coach Dan Lanning, who sent 12 players following a timeout. The Buckeyes faced a third-and-25 with 10 seconds remaining and needed about 15 yards to get into field goal range. The Buckeyes ran a play, which resulted in an incompletion, but were awarded five yards for a penalty. Despite the yardage gained, four precious seconds came off the clock.
Ohio State got revenge against Oregon in the CFP Rose Bowl, winning 41-21 to advance to the semifinal. The Ducks’ need for trickery to beat the Buckeyes on the first time around was a hot topic discussed with the team in preparation for the rematch.
“That was a message to our team for a week leading up to the Rose Bowl that I think resonated really well with our guys,” Kelly said.
Ohio State believes it would have beaten Oregon the first time if it had not been for Lanning pulling off the trickery.
Kelly coached at Oregon from 2009 to 2012, leading the Ducks to the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. Kelly had a 46-7 record with Oregon, winning three Pac-12 Championships during his tenure.
“It was a unique message to our players, that you can’t stop us with 11,” Kelly said. “You had to stop us with 12. And then you saw the final result of 11 vs. 11.”