Ohio State’s loss to USC didn’t end the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff hopes, but it did leave them walking a razor-thin line.
The Buckeyes are now 6-2 after dropping their second game of the season, and the latest setback came with a major wrinkle: they played without starting quarterback Julian Sayin. That absence showed up fast. The offense never really settled in, and Ohio State spent most of the night trying to manufacture rhythm that just wasn’t there.
Luke Fahey got the start and handled the job as well as he could under the circumstances. He completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown, but the Buckeyes were still chasing the game for most of the night. USC’s defense kept pressure on the inexperienced quarterback, and Ohio State didn’t find the end zone until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Even with the defeat, the Buckeyes remain ranked No. 11, and that keeps the door cracked open. The path is narrow, but if Ohio State runs the table, the playoff committee could still give them a look.
That’s where the challenge gets real. Ohio State still has Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan on the schedule, along with this weekend’s matchup against Oregon. There’s no room left for another slip.
The bigger issue is what happens on offense without Sayin. He is out for the rest of the year, and the Buckeyes are going to have to find a way to keep moving the ball without him.
Jeremiah Smith has been the headliner all season, but last week USC was able to keep him in check more than usual. He finished with 10 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown, and Ohio State is going to need more than that from the rest of the offense if it wants to stay in the playoff conversation.
In Other News...
Ohio States CFP Ranking Just Reignited A Frustrating Committee Debate
The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 immediately stirred up the kind of familiar arguments that seem to arrive every November, and Ohio State fans know the drill well enough by now. Miami landed at No. 1, followed by Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama, but the order raised fresh questions about how the committee is weighing head-to-head results, strength of schedule and the value of unbeaten records in a crowded field.
Hunter Yurachek tried to walk through the committees thinking, but the explanations only sharpened the debate around several placements, especially UCLA sitting behind teams with losses and Utah climbing so high with just one ranked win. For Ohio State, the broader concern is less about one specific slot than the same old uncertainty about what the rankings are really rewarding, and whether the committees logic will hold once the bracket starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has A Legit CFP Ranking Complaint After First Bracket
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season immediately stirred the usual arguments, with Alabama landing in the top five despite a mixed record against ranked opponents and Notre Dame showing up lower than it did in the AP poll. The committee also drew attention for the way it handled strength of schedule, a familiar flashpoint this time of year, and it did not take long for the Buckeyes to have a reason to feel slighted.
Hunter Yurachek said the committee did not consider Ohio States head-to-head win over Indiana when it made its first bracket. For a program that has spent the early part of the season trying to stack rsum points against quality competition, that omission stands out, especially when the rankings are already inviting scrutiny elsewhere. Ohio State may not love the opening picture, and this is the kind of detail that tends to linger until the committee explains itself a little more fully. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Explains Tense Ohio State Exchange After USC Statement Win
USCs 30-18 win over Ohio State ended with a little more edge than the scoreboard alone suggested, as Trojans coach Lincoln Riley and Buckeyes athletic director Ross Bjork had a brief verbal exchange on the field afterward. Riley was asked about it later and downplayed the moment, saying it was simply part of the emotions that spill over after a game like that and that the two moved past it quickly.
For Ohio State, the exchange was a small postgame footnote to an outcome that already stung, but it still drew attention because it happened in plain view after a high-profile nonconference matchup. Riley did not get into what started it, leaving the specifics out of reach even as he tried to brush off any bigger meaning from the scene. [Read more 🡒]