Ohio State’s November arrived with a jolt. A 30-18 loss at USC pushed the Buckeyes to 6-2 and put a familiar late-season standard under real pressure: win out, or start living dangerously.
For the first time since 2011, Ohio State heads into November with multiple losses. That alone changes the mood around a program that usually spends this month eyeing trophies, not damage control. With four regular-season games left, the Buckeyes have almost no room to stumble again, because a third loss would leave them in territory no 9-3 team has ever used to reach the College Football Playoff, even with the field expanding to 12 teams in 2024.
“Our backs are against the wall; we have two losses, and that’s something that we’re gonna have to fight back against,” tight end Mason Williams said.
The setback also came with a major shift in the rankings. Ohio State entered LA Memorial Coliseum as the No. 2 team in the country, but the defeat dropped the Buckeyes to No. 11 and out of the AP Top 25 top 10 for the first time since 2021.
The road ahead is no soft landing. Every opponent left on the schedule has a winning record, starting with Oregon on Saturday.
The Ducks, preseason No. 2, are 5-3 after beating No. 20 Northwestern, the same Northwestern team Ohio State will see on Nov.
- The Buckeyes also have a road trip to 5-3 Nebraska and finish the regular season at home against 5-3 Michigan.
“We have a big stretch coming down the road, and [we] just [have] to go out there and battle every day,” Williams said.
Offensive lineman Austin Siereveld echoed that sense of urgency.
“We just got to keep fighting and keep swinging,” Siereveld said.
Ohio State also had to navigate USC without quarterback Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely. In his first career start, Luke Fahey threw for 260 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Day said the freshman held up well enough, even if the offense left plays on the field.
“He competed, and wasn’t perfect, but we had some big, huge drops, and we weren’t able to help him down there,” Day said. “I thought he competed his tail off in there. We’ll look at the film and recognize the things that we got to improve on in terms of him and what we can do to put him in a better situation.”
There is still a path in the Big Ten. UCLA is the only unbeaten team in conference play, while Ohio State and Indiana each have one league loss. The Buckeyes also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana, which keeps them in control of their route to the Big Ten Championship Game.
Even so, the margin is thin, and the calendar is unforgiving. Under Day, Ohio State has had two regular-season losses in two seasons, including the 2024 National Championship team.
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 same old arguments, with Miami opening at No. 1 and Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama filling out the top five. For Ohio State fans watching the board, the early reveal was a reminder that the committee is once again leaning into a rsum-versus-results debate that never seems to go away, especially when teams with head-to-head advantages are separated or an unbeaten team like UCLA gets pushed behind squads with losses.
Utahs No. 3 spot drew plenty of attention, too, since the Utes have only one ranked win, and committee chair Hunter Yurachek spent part of the explanation cycle defending how the group compares teams across conferences and record profiles. For a Buckeyes audience, the bigger issue is familiar: if the opening rankings already feel inconsistent, the next few weeks are likely to bring even more scrutiny to every movement, every comparison and every decision the committee makes. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Still Has Two Big Lineup Questions Before Oregon
Ohio State came out of its trip to USC with two injury concerns hanging over the week ahead, and both sit in spots that matter a lot for what comes next. Defensive tackle Eddrick Houston and left tackle Ian Moore were hurt in the game, and Ryan Days latest update at least offered some clarity on one front, with Houston expected back soon as the Buckeyes turn their attention to Oregon.
Moore is the bigger unknown, and his status still depends on how he progresses in the days leading up to the matchup. For a team already working through the usual midseason grind, the left tackle spot is one of the most important places to have uncertainty, especially with Oregon on deck and Day continuing to balance injury management, staff decisions, and game prep all at once. [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 and Notre Dame showing up lower than in the AP poll. The committees opening bracket also reopened the familiar debate over how much weight should be given to strength of schedule, especially when the rankings seem to diverge from what voters and fans have already been seeing all fall.
For Ohio State, though, the bigger issue was more specific. Committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the Buckeyes head-to-head win over Indiana was not part of the discussion when the rankings were set, a detail that is hard to ignore for a team trying to measure itself against the rest of the playoff field. In a race where every comparison matters, leaving out a direct result is the kind of thing that can leave a program wondering what exactly the committee values most. [Read more 🡒]