The Most Overrated Thing Was …
Ohio State losing to Oregon.
You think this is over?
You think Ohio State is going to stop playing football and go find something else more meaningful to do with its existence after losing a regular season game for the first time in the Ryan Day era?
It’s an awful time for a fan base that’s the grouchiest in all of sports even when it’s winning big.
Check out the overall standings, and THE Ohio State University football program is behind Penn State, and Michigan State, and Maryland, and Rutgers, and – gulp – Michigan as it sits at the bottom along with Indiana.
It’s the first time since October 20th, 2018, Ohio State lost and Michigan won on the same day. No, things are not going well.
Going back to the 52-24 loss in the national championship to Alabama, the 118 points allowed are the most over a three-game stretch in the history of the program.
So that’s it. Time to maybe hope for some nice bowl game somewhere warm and …
Ohio State is still good.
The defense needs a whole lot of fine-tuning, and QB CJ Stroud and the passing game have to get sharper, but the Buckeyes made a late run against the Ducks with plenty of chances to pull off the win. Coming off a shaky game against Minnesota, though, the close call wasn’t okay.
But the loss doesn’t mean anything to the team’s chances to win a third straight Big Ten title, and it doesn’t mean it can’t get back to the College Football Playoff.
10 Thoughts on Oregon’s win over Ohio State
The NFL guys are still there, the talent is still in place, and with time, Stroud is only going to get better. That’s what the games against Tulsa and Akron are for.
Rutgers and Maryland might be playing better, but they’re still Rutgers and Maryland vs. Ohio State. The Penn State and Michigan State games are at home, there’s no Wisconsin or Iowa to deal with, and after Rutgers, the remaining road games are at Indiana, Nebraska, and Michigan.
No, Ohio State doesn’t control its own College Football Playoff destiny, but – as much of a stretch as this might seem – the program was in this situation in 2014, losing to Virginia Tech in the second week only to go on to win the national title.
If you remember back when that happened, Ohio State was coming off a crushingly painful Big Ten Championship defeat to Michigan State and a loss to Clemson in the Orange Bowl the season before. It had lost three of its last four games, and then it went on a tear.
It’s still Ohio State. It’s still capable of doing that.
The schedule isn’t bad, the team is still good, and … it’s going to take some work.
Not all is lost quite yet. However …
– Army passing, Arkansas Winners & Losers
– Oregon’s big win: One Really Big Thing
– Big Ten rises: Most Underrated Thing
– You wanted change? What It All Means, Week 2
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