This doesn’t happen enough…The Buckeyes got to Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola just three times. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
When a football team this talented presents a championship or bust goal, fans have every right to grumble about a loss – even by a point at the current No. 1 team – and especially a near loss to an unranked team at home.
Thousands of fans, suffering with an insatiable appetite for a championship, are asking: What’s wrong with the Ohio State football team?
They complained about the lack of a pass rush and clock management in the loss at Oregon. They complained about play calling and the offensive line in Saturday’s way-closer-than-it-was-supposed-to-be win over Nebraska.
The frustration is real, it’s relentless and it’s raw.
Some of my family members and friends – in person and on social media – are a mere morsel of those thousands. I hear from them. Some during the game, some not long after the game, some the next morning.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Even my chiropractor at my 9 a.m. Monday appointment expressed serious doubts that the Buckeyes can win at Penn State on Saturday.
Are y’all just insufferable?
I wouldn’t say that about you. You come by your expectations for this team honestly. And if anyone in the national media chastises you for being ridiculous – like some did last year – just tell them you are following the players’ lead.
They started this.
Ohio State is supposed to be good and contend for titles every year. But this year’s expectations are at a higher level. When all those players returned instead of entering the NFL Draft, the common theme was break the Michigan curse and win a national championship. Some of the big-name transfers even talked of such things.
They made you believe (not that it took much prompting) that this season would be blowout after blowout on the way to a confetti-filled celebration on January 20 in Atlanta.
Because their high expectations raised your expectations, it is absolutely acceptable to question whether this team is complete enough to be taken seriously as a championship contender.
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The Associated Press poll voters still think the Buckeyes are viable. They kept them at No. 4 in this week. They have the same expectations for a roster deemed to be as talented as any in the country.
The last two Ohio State national championship seasons were not accompanied by big expectations. That’s why Ohio State fans defended Jim Tressel’s unbeaten 2002 team as it escaped ugly performance after ugly performance. Fans answered critics with “a win is a win.”
Not many fans this season take the a-win-is-a-win view of what they witnessed Saturday against the unranked Cornhuskers, who were embarrassed the previous Saturday by Indiana. The team also had a hard time feeling that way because they say they want to leave no doubt.
When the 2014 Buckeyes were blitzed at home in the second week by Virginia Tech, expectations for Urban Meyer’s team evaporated. They didn’t protect freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett that night, and the defense struggled. But that team found its identity and rolled to a championship a year ahead of schedule.
The 2015 season was loaded with even more expectations than 2024. The Buckeyes returned most of their best players and they began the year No. 1. But the back-to-back quest fell apart in a 17-14 late-season home loss to Michigan State that we saw coming.
No idea if that perspective means anything. Those are good memories, but they obviously provide you with little solace for the fears you have that this team will not measure up to 2002 and 2014.
But maybe one piece of this team’s identity is a lot like those teams, which might have to be its salvation. Y’all want them to glide to every victory with a dominating defense, a robust running game and prolific passing attack. Sometimes, however, two out of three just might have to do.
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Because this might be a team that has to grind more than it can glide. Maybe Ryan Day sees that and maybe that’s why his goal for this team’s identity has been to be the hardest working team in America.
Still, it is acceptable to be anxious about the red flags.
The condition of the offensive line gives you every reason to speculate – even be convinced – this team will fall short of expectations. They still don’t seem nasty enough to push around the best teams on the schedule.
The loss of left tackle Josh Simmons for the season set the table for what happened Saturday when the Buckeyes rushed for 64 yards on 31 carries. But that’s only a symptom of a deeper problem: recruiting.
Ryan Day hired Justin Frye to fix the problem he inherited. Simmons’ development as a transfer is a good sign, which is why his injury was so severely felt Saturday as senior Zen Michalski struggled as the next man up. Frye’s impact on recruiting will be based on how the 2023 and 2024 classes develop. The issue with offensive lineman, however, is that seldom are they ready to be starters early in their careers.
The star lineman of the 2023 class is Luke Montgomery from Findlay. He entered Saturday’s game late at left guard when Michalski, making his first start, left the game injured. Day said they went with the pre-game plan to move Donovan Jackson from guard to tackle an insert Montgomery.
Day wouldn’t commit to who will start where Saturday at Penn State, but Jackson and Montgomery on the left side might be the best option. Before Simmons arrived last year and locked down the tackle spot, consideration was given to moving Jackson to tackle.
Austin Siereveld, a 2023 from Lakota East, started the first two games at right guard while Tegra Tshabola got healthy. Otherwise, no one else from the 2023 or 2024 classes has played starter snaps. The future of the line, however, means almost nothing for this season.
Will this Ohio State offensive line find a way to make room for TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins to produce big runs and touchdowns against teams like Penn State? We’d all like to know.
Can this Ohio State offensive line find a way to make room for TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins to produce big runs and touchdowns against teams like Penn State? If not, this season will most likely be forever lumped in with the missed opportunity of 2015.
The play calling complaints of getting away from the running game are also a symptom of the line struggles. Chip Kelly clearly feels safer throwing the football than running it in certain situations. And he’s a play caller who has always dominated defenses with the run game.
The offensive identity is a moving target because of personnel, not because Kelly is indecisive.
The defensive identity also lacks definition. They want to be a playmaking, turnover-forcing unit. But the performance against Oregon lingers as another example of Jim Knowles’ schemes struggling against top teams.
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The Buckeyes sacked Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola three times and pressured him more than they pressured Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel. There were more blitzes, but I wouldn’t call the game plan exotic. And it seemed as if the tackles played more on passing downs and we saw less of the rushmen package, which was ineffective against Oregon.
Nebraska might have been a positive advance for the front four. But they still have much to prove against top offenses.
This team may fall woefully short of expectations. But there is also reason not to write them off. They have five more games to prep for a playoff run. The playoffs, like never before in college football, will be a second season like it’s been in every other sport for decades. Yes, I’m telling you there’s a chance.
But until those results are known, you are free to cringe, consternate and complain.
And expect more.
Just like the text I just got from someone who will be at Beaver Stadium for the first time: “Just need the Buckeyes to play to their potential and it will be PERFECT.”
In 2024, perfection is the only acceptable outcome.