Ohio State’s season is far from over, but Saturday night in Austin demanded a serious reality check.
The Buckeyes let a 20-point second-half lead slip away and fell 24-23 to Texas at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, a collapse that would have ended a season in another era of college football.
Not anymore. With the 12-team College Football Playoff in place, the loss doesn’t knock Ohio State out of the Big Ten race, and it doesn’t erase the chance to get back into the playoff picture for a run at a national championship.
As Scarlet and Gray center Carson Hinzman put it after the game, Ohio State"can still do everything we plan on doing this year."
That may be true, but it doesn’t soften what happened. This was a brutal finish for a team that came in as the preseason No. 1, led by veteran head coach Ryan Day, with two former NFL head coaches on the staff and championship expectations hanging over every snap. Aside from the 2011 loss at Nebraska, when Ohio State lost its starting quarterback to injury, this stands as the worst meltdown in Scarlet and Gray history.
The good news is that the Buckeyes still have time to fix it. The bad news is that the fix is going to require more than just cleaning up a few mistakes. Rewatching the Texas game makes one thing plain: Ohio State needs to get its best players on the field more often, and that means making personnel changes.
That was the point of the look back in this week’s Upon Further Review, which breaks down each position group and asks a simple question: through the first two games, are the right guys getting enough playing time?
QUARTERBACK
In Other News...
Ohio State Freshmen Frustration Just Put A New Problem In Public
Ohio States loss to Texas did more than dent the Buckeyes early-season momentum. It also spilled a little of the programs internal frustration into public view, as three freshmen used social media to air dissatisfaction with their roles and limited opportunities, a jarring development for a team that is still trying to settle itself after an important defeat.
Jerquaden Guilford, Brock Boyd and Bey were among the players whose posts drew attention, with language that pointed to a desire for more involvement. For a staff already sorting through a disappointing result, it adds a fresh layer of concern about buy-in and roster harmony, even if there has been no official response yet. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Just Added New Controversy To Texas' Win Over Ohio State
Texas win over No. 1 Ohio State already had enough postgame baggage after Steve Sarkisian abruptly cut off ESPN reporter Holly Rowe during a brief on-field exchange. The moment itself was awkward enough, but it quickly became a bigger talking point once a fake AI-generated video of Sarkisian slapping Rowe started making the rounds online, giving the upset a strange and unnecessary afterlife beyond the scoreboard.
Arch Manning then poured fuel on the reaction when he weighed in on the clip during a Monday exchange, describing it as hilarious. The comment drew immediate criticism on social media, with some users calling for apologies and public statements from both Manning and Sarkisian, turning a celebratory Texas moment into another reminder of how fast a viral postgame clip can shift the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Needs More Than A Win Against Kent State
Ohio State gets a chance to reset at home this week against Kent State, with the Buckeyes coming off the Week 2 loss to Texas and looking for a cleaner showing on both sides of the ball. The matchup will be carried on FOX and streaming platforms, and on paper it gives Ohio State a comfortable spot to get back on track while working through some of the issues that showed up last time out.
The bigger value here may be less about the result and more about what the Buckeyes can take from it, especially on offense. A lopsided win would be welcome, but Ohio State needs a performance that helps settle the unit, builds confidence after the setback and gives the coaches a better feel for where this team is headed as the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]