Five things that went wrong in Ohio State’s loss to Alabama in the national championship game

Ohio State got absolutely throttled by Alabama, and we try to make sense of it all. Here are five things we think went wrong in Miami.

Justin Fields couldn’t replicate the performance we saw against Clemson

Fields showed flashes of the spectacular playmaker he can be, but his game was a little off. He missed some wide-open throws, seemed a little hesitant at times, and just wasn’t the weapon Ohio State needed him to be.

I’m sure a lot of that had to do with him still recovering from getting walloped like a rag doll by Clemson’s James Skalski, but he was not quite able to pull through to put the Buckeyes on his back in this one. And really, that was the only way OSU was going to keep pace was for Fields to orchestrate scores and win a shootout.

NEXT … The undermanned defensive line