That gave the Ducks a one-point lead with 1:47 to play.
Ohio State drove to the Oregon 28, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Jeremiah Smith pushed the Buckeyes back to the 43 with 26 seconds left.
After two incomplete passes, Will Howard scrambled 12 yards up the middle, but time ran out before the play ended.
The third-ranked Ducks remained undefeated while No. 3 Ohio State fell to 5-1.
Down 22-21, Ohio State forced a punt to start the second half then Howard engineered a 79-yard touchdown drive that featured explosive passes to Smith and Gee Scott Jr.
That set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Smith, who followed him across the field and got open as Howard scrambled to keep the play alive.
Oregon looked poise to go right back in front on its next possession, but the Ducks stalled out at the 2-yard line when Cody Simon broke up a pass over the middle on fourth down and goal.
That turned out to be delaying the inevitable, though, as the Ducks tore through the Ohio State defense on their next possession, going 60 yards in five plays. Gabriel picked up the final 27 when he pulled the ball on a zone read and found all kinds of open field.
Andrew Boyle’s PAT kick gave the Ducks the lead with 13:14 left in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State led early, taking the opening kickoff and driving 75 yards for a touchdown.
Howard completed it when he followed Quinshon Judkins into the end zone from a yard out, but most of the damage was done with the quarterback’s arm.
He completed 5 of 6 passes for 65 yards on the drive, including a 32-yarder to Will Kaczmarek that looked like it could have been intercepted. Officials ruled it was not, though, and the replay booth did not intervene before the Buckeyes’ drive continued.
Ohio State forced a punt on the first Oregon possession, but the third-ranked Ducks got the ball back quickly when Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon took the ball away from Judkins on a short run.
That set up the Ducks at the Ohio State 28-yard line, and they capitalized in two plays — both powerful runs by Jordan James. He scampered 25 yards on first down then powered in from a yard out on the second play, but Oregon was unable to tie the score because of a bad hold on the PAT snap.
After the Ducks missed a 44-yard field goal, Ohio State turned to its ground game to extend the lead. TreVeyon Henderson followed a 17-yard run with a 53-yard sprint on the same inside zone play to the left to set the Buckeyes up first and goal at the 4-yard line.
Judkins finished the drive two plays later when he took a handoff over left tackle out of the Full House formation and followed a pair of lead blockers into the end zone.
Oregon responded quickly as Evan Stewart torched Denzel Burke for a 69-yard catch then beat him in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown catch two plays later.
Oregon failed on a two-point attempt, but the Ducks got the ball right back when they recovered an onside kick at the Ohio State 41.
They capitalized with a 27-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington to take a 15-14 lead with 10:09 to go in the second quarter.
Ohio State answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Emeka Egbuka that capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive that featured a fourth down conversion at midfield.
But Oregon came right back, picking on Burke again for a 48-yard touchdown from Gabriel to Tez Johnson to regain the lead 22-21 with 1:17 on the clock.
Gabriel completed 11 of 16 passes for 212 yards in the first half.
Stewart caught five passes for 124 yards while James added 67 yards on the ground.
Howard was 13-for-16 for 129 yards for the Buckeyes.
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