Ohio State’s season has gone from disappointing to downright ugly, and the latest punch landed in a 41-28 loss to Oregon. A week after giving up 30 points against USC, the Buckeyes looked overwhelmed again, and the path forward is suddenly a lot murkier. At this point, the only obvious target left is TTUN, and even that feels very much up in the air.
Ryan Day didn’t have much to offer afterward, and the message he gave his team was just as frustrating as the performance. He said they needed to “weather the storm”.
But this didn’t look like a passing problem. It looked like a full-blown collapse.
The bigger issue is that Day doesn’t appear to have his team ready to function without Julian Sayin, and there’s no clear sign he has a solution for helping the new quarterback out. The defense hasn’t helped matters either.
Matt Patricia keeps dropping seven or eight into coverage and failing to generate pressure, which has left opposing quarterbacks far too comfortable in the pocket over the last two weeks. When Ohio State did blitz, it at least managed to move the pocket a little.
Day also hasn’t made a quarterback change, and that decision is drawing plenty of attention. Luke Fahey finished with 360 passing yards, but most of that production came in garbage time.
He also threw a brutal interception in the first half, floating the ball into triple coverage. On top of that, he refused to throw it to Jeremiah Smith.
The numbers around this slide are ugly, too. This is the first time Ohio State has lost two straight games in 15 years, and the Buckeyes will not make the College Football Playoff this season. For a team that opened the year as the preseason No. 1 in both preseason polls, that’s a stunning fall.
The frustration now goes beyond one bad night. Changes need to happen across the program, and several assistants should be on the chopping block.
Day himself is under pressure, too. If he can’t stop the slide, especially if Ohio State loses at home to TTUN again, the calls for a bigger move will only get louder.
In Other News...
Ohio States Oregon Collapse Exposed A Problem Buckeyes Fans Feared
Ohio States loss to Oregon in Columbus had the feel of a game that started with promise and then slipped away in plain sight. The Buckeyes came out strong, but the rest of the afternoon turned into a reminder that early momentum only matters if it can be sustained, and this one quickly exposed some of the same concerns fans have been carrying for a while. Jeremiah Smith was not used nearly enough, and the offense never seemed to fully settle into a rhythm as the game changed around it.
Luke Faheys performance only added to the unease, while the defense looked far removed from the unit Ohio State expected to lean on in a matchup like this. The bigger frustration, though, was the lack of clear adjustment as Oregon kept finding answers and the Buckeyes did not. For a team with playoff ambitions, a home collapse like this does more than count as one bad result - it raises the kind of questions that can linger well beyond a single Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremiah Smiths Frustration Just Raised A Bigger Ohio State Concern
Jeremiah Smiths frustration was hard to miss in Ohio States loss to Oregon, a defeat that left the Buckeyes staring at a tougher path to the playoff. Even in a game that slipped away 41-28, Smith still produced, finishing with seven catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, which only underscored how much Ohio State leaned on him when the offense needed a spark.
The bigger concern now is what his visible irritation might say about the state of the Buckeyes season and how they handle the fallout from a damaging setback. One analyst even raised the possibility that Smith might not play again this year, though that remains unconfirmed, and for a team trying to steady itself after the Oregon loss, any uncertainty around its top playmaker only adds to the pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Just Added Fuel To Indianas CFP Debate
Urban Meyer gave the College Football Playoff debate a fresh jolt by questioning how the committee is sorting Ohio State and Indiana. The former Buckeyes coach pointed to the Buckeyes head-to-head win over Indiana and said he did not understand why No. 12 Ohio State sits eight spots behind No. 4 Indiana, especially when the discussion turns to how teams are being judged beyond the loss column.
Meyer also took aim at the committees handling of nonconference scheduling, arguing that Ohio States ranking does not match what it has shown on the field. Indianas case is strong in its own right at 8-1, with wins over Michigan and Nebraska, but Meyer noted the Hoosiers have not beaten a ranked opponent, leaving the playoff conversation with a familiar tension: rsum versus result, and a gap in the rankings that still needs explaining. [Read more 🡒]