Ohio State Buckeyes’ Chip Kelly calls Oregon Ducks Dan Lanning

Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is ready for Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship, but the Oregon Ducks remain a topic of discussion for the former head coach.

Kelly, who was Oregon’s offensive coordinator in 2007 and ’08 before becoming the program’s head coach for four seasons, had some strong words for his former team when talking about the intentional illegal turnover penalty, a unique strategy Ducks coach Dan Lanning adopted to use late in Oregon’s 32-31 win over the Buckeyes in Eugene on Oct. 12. The flag drained precious seconds off the clock, giving Ohio State less time for a potential game-winning field goal.

MORE: Can Oregon Ducks win national championship in 2026? Schema analysis, prediction

MORE: Nick Saban upset over Oregon Ducks’ College Football Playoff Path vs. Ohio State

MORE: Former Oregon Ducks receiver Ryan Pellum arrested for ‘pistol-whipping’ assault

The Buckeyes got their chance for revenge in the CFP semifinals in the Rose Bowl and certainly made the most of it, beating Oregon 41-21. That result in Pasadena is something Kelly pointed to while calling out his former team for using the intentional penalty.

“It was a unique message to our players that you can’t stop us with 11,” Kelly said. “You had to stop us by 12. And then you saw the final score of 11 to 11.”

The play — which was met with some controversy — happened on the final possession of the game as Ohio State looked to put together a game-winning drive down one. With 22 seconds left to play, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard found first star receiver Jeremiah Smith for a completion that put the Buckeyes well within game-winning field-goal range at Oregon’s 21-yard line.

However, Smith was called for an offensive pass interference penalty, which set the Buckeyes back to the Ducks’ 43-yard line. Speaking to the media prior to the Rose Bowl, Smith admitted that he still thinks about that penalty, calling it a “crazy call.”

“I probably think about that call every day,” Smith said. “It was a crazy call. The DB held me; I just cleaned his hands. I guess receivers can’t be physical anymore in football, but DBs could hold 10 yards, 15 yards down the field. It’s behind me. I know the move from here on out. You can’t be physical as a receiver in college football anymore. We’ll just see how things play out in this game.”

The Buckeyes got the last laugh and will now have a chance to officially put the tough loss behind them when they open against Notre Dame from Atlanta on Monday night.