Oregon's late-game trickery against Ohio State pushed the NCAA to close the penalty loophole

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include new information.

It certainly seemed like the Ducks intentionally had too many men on the field late in Saturday's win against Ohio State. And with a little smirk, Oregon football coach Dan Lanning all but confirmed what many college football fans suspected.

"We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations," Lanning said. "There are some situations that don't show up very often in college football, but this is one that obviously was something that we have worked on. So you can see the result."

His works came with a smile, though he didn't explicitly say one way or the other. But let's back it up.

In one of the biggest college football games of the season, No. 2 Ohio State traveled to No. 3 Oregon, and it didn't disappoint. The Ducks kicked a field goal with less than two minutes left to take a 32-31 lead, but the Buckeyes had plenty of time to score.

Late in the game with 10 seconds left, Ohio State was at third-and-25 at Oregon's 43-yard line and eyeing field goal range. After Oregon called a timeout, it sent 12 defenders on the field. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard thew an incomplete pass, four seconds came off the clock and the Ducks were penalized for an illegal substitution.

Whether or not Lanning and the Ducks took the penalty on purpose is the issue at hand here, because, if done on purpose, Oregon essentially traded the five-yard penalty for taking the four seconds on the clock that Howard took after the snap.

And Lanning seemed to hint that it was:

It's honestly brilliant if, again, it was done on purpose and is reminiscent of Buddy Ryan's "Polish Goaline" move.

Now, the NCAA is reportedly looking into this Oregon move because the Ducks ultimately benefitted from the penalty in trading yards for time off the clock.

As Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday:

NCAA mulling in-season action after Oregon's controversial late-game situational move helped Ducks beat Ohio State

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Oregon's late-game trickery against Ohio State pushed the NCAA to close the penalty loophole