The Ohio State Buckeyes are in a make-or-break scenario: their College Football Playoff hopes hang by a thread, as they saw their No. 2 AP Poll ranking drop to a nine-spot decline in Tuesday's initial CFP Committee rankings at No. 11 following last Saturday's 30-18 loss to the now No. 20-ranked USC Trojans.

In Week 10, they return home to face a resurgent, newly ranked No. 23 Oregon Ducks team that still has a surprising outside chance at the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, Ind., while the Buckeyes will likely have to run the table through the season's final month to secure a second straight appearance.

Coach Ryan Day shared that the Buckeyes are sticking with true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, who had a bumpy, non-ideal first start after replacing their primary signal-caller, Julian Sayin, during their bye week following a victory in Bloomington against the Indiana Hoosiers last month.

Day was candid about why the move makes sense long term, as Fahey has thrown three touchdowns and two interceptions in four games this fall (Ball State, Kent State, Indiana, USC).

Ryan Day Backs Luke Fahey Again in Julian Sayin's Absence

"Yeah, right now,” Day told reporters Tuesday. “He’s going to be the starter against Oregon.”

Day said last Saturday that he was not angered by Fahey's performance in Ohio State's second loss, but wanted to use it as a launching pad for something bigger and more sustainable down the line.

"I think for Luke, he competed. It wasn’t perfect, but we had some big, huge drops, and we weren't able to help him out there," Day said.

Adding to this, Day put a further blame on he and his coaching staff.

"We weren’t able — to me — to play well enough to support a young freshman quarterback who has had his first start on the road," Day said.

Day said that it isn't even about the opponent in front of the Buckeyes any longer, but rather what the team can do better to collectively win.

Root Cause Unveiled By Ryan Day After Ohio State's Upset Loss

“When I go back through the scheme, there are definitely some plays on both sides of the ball that I think schematically we can do better — there are,” Day said. “But it’s not an overall issue that we’re like running bad plays or we’re running bad defense. I don’t see that as a major problem."

Ohio State-Oregon is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday on CBS, as the Buckeyes have won three of the five all-time head-to-head games against Oregon since Jan. 2010.

We'll see what transpires, as the entire season might be at stake.