It’s not uncommon to see a wide receiver hurdle a defender in space, showing off some athleticism that comes naturally to the position.
It’s less common to see a 265-pound edge rusher hurdling a wideout along the sideline, while running with the ball.
Yet, that’s exactly what Matayo Uiagalelei did in Columbus on Saturday. And while the leap only tacked on a few extra yards to the end of the play, the surprising jump boosted his sideline enough to flip the script, from being blown off the field to emptying Ohio Stadium as the fourth quarter began.
The Oregon Ducks took over momentum in an instant and never let it go, toppling the Ohio State Buckeyes 41-28 on the road, and it all started with a gamble from Dan Lanning on fourth down from his own 30-yard line.
The fake punt has become something of a staple under Lanning. The Ducks ran it in 2023 against Colorado, when defensive tackle Casey Rogers took off for an 18-yard run on a trick play called deep in Oregon territory. The next season, edge rusher Jordan Burch showed off his wheels with a 36-yard run against Maryland.
“We’ve had a long history of running fake punts,” Lanning said. We just haven’t seen a lot of teams that have given us an opportunity where we can potentially hit that, and the fake punts that we’ve run in the past were runs to the left. Obviously, if it didn’t work, you guys would have a heyday with me, especially in your own territory, but that’s where fakes do work.”
WHAT IN THE WORLD?! FAKE PUNT JUMP PASS!! pic.twitter.com/27mOQkOqSX
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) November 7, 2026
This time, Lanning threw in a wrinkle. Uiagalelei wouldn’t be running the ball. Instead, his senior pass rush partner in crime, Teitum Tuioti, faked a run before lofting the ball toward the sideline for Uiagalelei.
Uiagalelei isn’t known for his speed, but as the ball floated in the air for what felt like an eternity, Oregon’s sack leader glided under the ball and made the catch and took off for the first down. From there, instinct took over for the former tight end at St. John Bosco High School.
“I ain’t gonna lie,” Uiagalelei said. “I just caught the ball, and there was a guy in front of me. I was like, ‘Just hit triangle, bruh.’”
In video game style, the big man jumped over Ohio State punt returner Phillip Bell and went out of bounds after picking up 30 yards on the trickery.
Not all of Uiagalelei’s teammates knew he had that type of athleticism. Ify Obidegwu and Devon Jackson, sitting beside the star pass rusher in the postgame press conference, snickered as Uiagalelei said he last hurdled a player in high school. Even Oregon’s leading rusher on the night, Dierre Hill Jr., was ready for Uiagalelei to take flight.
“Honestly, I was very shocked,” Hill said. “It was very electric. We’ve never seen Matayo do something like that. For him to be that big and that size and have the ability to do the thing he did, it was crazy. It was amazing to see as a teammate.”
Oregon trailed 14-3 at the time of the call. Dylan Raiola nearly threw an interception on the play prior, but Buckeyes’ safety Jaylen McClain couldn’t haul it in. Had McClain made the play, there is no telling if the Ducks would have rattled off 38 points unanswered to stomp the Buckeyes in their building.
Instead, Hill took advantage with a 6-yard touchdown run to draw the Ducks closer before halftime. A sudden change on freshman Devin Jackson’s interception gave the Ducks a shot to not only score again but take a lead into the locker room. Lanning gambled once again with just seconds on the clock at the goal line, and out of an odd formation, Jamari Johnson went under center and muscled his way into the end zone.
Suddenly, a 14-3 deficit turned into a 17-14 advantage.
Looking back on Oregon’s blowout win, in which the Ducks took whatever they wanted offensively and shut down the Buckeyes’ offense for much of the day, that fake punt alone seemed to be the turning point that popped Ohio State’s hopeful balloon.
Dakorien Moore, who fed off the energy with seven catches for 56 yards and a one-handed touchdown snag, has seen the Ducks’ special teams unit working on the trick in practice. Even on the practice field, he admitted he was caught by the element of surprise.
OH BABY DAKORIEN MOORE ONE-HANDER! pic.twitter.com/48xOhEhnLG
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 7, 2026
But when he knew the play was coming, the result was all the sweeter.
“It was amazing. Just hearing that they were going to go for a fake, we were on the sideline like, ‘Oh my god, we really hope this works.’ And when it worked, we were just turnt. Then we saw (Uiagalelei) hurdle somebody, and a guy like me, that literally set my mind on fire.”
Oregon never looked back from that point, turning a deficit on the road into a rout against a Big Ten blue blood. Lanning has preached a philosophy of “letting it rip” with Jay Johnson calling plays and the defense facing a tall task in defending Jeremiah Smith. Both sides rose to the occasion, and all it took was a roll of the dice on special teams to kickstart the heart.
The Ducks have pulled out all the stops the past two weeks to turn their season around and rise from the dead in the Big Ten race. Oregon will get a chance to build on the momentum next week as they return home to face Michigan.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: How Oregon’s fake punt flipped the script in blowout vs. Ohio State