Ohio State has already lived this movie before, and the ending worked out just fine.
The Buckeyes have dropped three of their last four games, but that kind of stumble is not new territory for a program that has still found a way to finish at the top. The last time Ohio State went through a stretch like this, it answered by winning the national championship.
Back in 2014, the Buckeyes finished the 2013 season with losses in the Big Ten Championship Game to Michigan State and in the Orange Bowl to Clemson. Then came another setback, an upset loss to unranked Virginia Tech at home in the second game of 2014. From there, Ohio State ripped off its final 10 regular-season games, won the Big Ten Championship Game, earned a place in the first-ever College Football Playoff, and beat Alabama and Oregon on the way to its first national title in 12 years.
A dozen years later, the path looks familiar.
After closing the 2025 season with defeats in the Big Ten Championship Game against Indiana and in the CFP against Miami, Ohio State fell to Texas in its second game of 2026. But the loss does not close the door on the Buckeyes’ championship hopes. Far from it.
The 12-team playoff format gives teams more breathing room than ever, and Ohio State’s situation is still manageable. Unlike in 2014, when the Buckeyes had to win out just to grab the final spot in the four-team playoff, they could afford another regular-season loss and still almost certainly reach the field.
Because Texas was a non-conference opponent, Ohio State remains in full control of its playoff destiny. Win the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes can still punch their ticket.
That kind of bounce-back is not some fantasy either. Ohio State itself just did it.
When the Buckeyes won their most recent national championship, they had two regular-season losses in 2024, including a home loss to unranked Michigan in the regular-season finale. They still surged through the first-ever 12-team CFP and finished with the trophy.
And Ohio State is hardly the only team to recover from an early punch. The first two years of the 12-team playoff era have already produced examples of teams absorbing losses that looked far more damaging than a 1-point road defeat to a top-five opponent.
Notre Dame supplied the clearest one. The Fighting Irish took a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois in 2024, a result that did not exactly scream playoff team at the time. They then won 13 straight games to reach the national championship game, where they lost to Ohio State.
Miami also showed what kind of recovery is possible. The team that beat Ohio State in the CFP last season made the national championship game even after suffering two midseason losses to unranked Louisville and SMU.
Still, the Texas game exposed real problems for Ohio State. The fourth-quarter collapse in Austin revealed issues in all three phases, and those are the kinds of cracks the Buckeyes have to seal if they want to be playing deep into January. The loss also tightens the margin for error with a schedule that still includes road trips to Iowa, Indiana and USC, plus November games against Oregon and Michigan.
Even so, one loss does not end the season. It does not even end the championship chase.
Ohio State is still the betting favorite to win it all, and the history around the program - plus the recent history of the playoff era - says the Buckeyes have plenty left in front of them.
Carson Hinzman made that clear after the Texas loss.
“It freaking hurts. It hurts me, it hurts everyone in the program.
We wanna win every single game we play. However, we lost a non-conference game, really.
Everything we got is still in our forefront, still in our big picture. We can still do everything we planned on doing this year,” Ohio State center Carson Hinzman said after the loss to Texas.
“So we just gotta go execute, and that's really it. And for us to go back to the drawing board and see what we gotta get better at, I mean, we'll be a great team.
I have no worries.”
In Other News...
Dan Lanning Just Gave Ohio State Fans More Reason To Hate Him
Oregons 84-0 win over Portland State came with a bit of extra edge, even for a game that was over long before the final whistle. The Ducks set a new program record for points in a single game, but it was Dan Lannings choice late in the rout that stirred the most reaction, since he opted to keep pushing and score again rather than simply run out the clock.
For Ohio State fans, the timing only adds to the anticipation. The Buckeyes are set to face Oregon on November 7, and the recent history between the programs has already carried plenty of intensity. If this latest episode is any indication, that matchup could arrive with even more frustration, and more motivation, than usual on both sides. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Needs More Than A Win To Calm Growing Doubts
A trip to Kent State gives Ohio State the kind of chance teams usually crave after a messy week: a lopsided matchup, a softer stage and room to reset after a game that exposed issues on both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes have spent the days since that setback evaluating what went wrong defensively and offensively, and there is obvious pressure on the staff to show the roster can respond quickly rather than let the frustration linger.
The emphasis now is on cleaner execution and a better running game, which should be the safest place to start against an overmatched opponent. There will also be a shuffle up front because of injury, adding another layer of urgency to an offensive line that needs to settle in fast. Ohio State is expected to win decisively, but the larger test is whether the performance looks like a team steadying itself or one still searching for answers. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State's Rout Revealed Just How Dangerous This Roster Could Be
Saturdays 59-3 rout of Kent State at Ohio Stadium was the kind of lopsided win that can tell you plenty about a team, even before the opponent level is factored in. Ohio State was dominant on both sides of the ball, piling up eight touchdowns while the defense forced multiple turnovers and never let the game drift out of hand.
The bigger takeaway for the Buckeyes may have been the kind of history layered into the blowout. Jeremiah Smith kept adding to his place in the program record book, and Ryan Day reached another coaching milestone, a reminder that this roster is producing both on-field force and long-term significance at the same time. [Read more 🡒]