On the afternoon of November 20th, 2021, OSU was beating Michigan State 49-0 at halftime. A historic passing performance and maybe even more impressive defensive performance led the Buckeyes to a bludgeoning of the #7 team in the country, propelling them to #2 in the CFP rankings. The state of the program couldn’t have been better.

Oh what a difference seven days can make…

Fast forward exactly one week. This same team heads into Ann Arbor as -8.5 point favorites on most Sportsbook sites. They proceed to give up the most points scored by Michigan in “The Game” in over 70 years (42).  The defense was gouged for nearly 300 yards rushing, most of which came in the second half when they Buckeyes knew exactly what was coming. Here we stand a little more than a week later and Michigan has won the big ten title while  replacing the Buckeyes at the #2 spot in the final rankings.

What’s alarming about this is that this kind of performance is becoming somewhat of a trend; Earlier this season, Ohio State entered the Oregon game as double digit favorites at home (-10.5). They proceeded to get thrashed by the run game again and again. Just like the Michigan game, it was the same run concepts all game and we knew when they were coming- yet Oregon got better as the game went on.

In both the biggest games of the season, the theme was this- Countless mental mistakes and penalties on the offensive line, failure to establish a run game and complete and utter hopelessness when it came to stopping the run on defense. (Keep in mind these two games were over 2 months apart from each other.) Day and his staff had a full season to address these errors and prepare the team for such a game, and arguably the team looked worse.

Now, there are of course other factors that play a role. The personnel has to take responsibility as well. Both establishing and stopping the run are famously centered around “attitude and effort” and this mentality, for whatever reason, slipped away from the players in these games. Secondly, the repeated penalties on the offensive side of the ball are clearly mental mistakes because of the sheer volume. Yes, the Michigan pass rush is nasty, but they knew this all year and all game. Adjustments have to be made.

It isn’t all gloom and doom, however. OSU has a golden opportunity to prove that they can overcome all the obstacles mentioned above this New Years Day in Pasadena against a Utah team that prides itself on a tough and physical run game.

Next year, the Buckeyes will return almost every single defensive starter and rotation player from this past season. A new promising defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles will have plenty of talent to pick from as OSU also brings in another talented recruiting class headlined by the nations #1 LB in CJ Hicks and now reclassified #1 Safety Sonny Styles. There will be no shortage of opportunities for Ohio State to prove their worth, as the 2022 schedule is poised to be one of the most challenging in recent memory, with matchups against Notre Dame, Wisconsin, at Penn State, at Michigan State and of course ending the regular season against Michigan in Columbus.

This Rose Bowl coupled with a challenging schedule next year will be a huge opportunity for both the players and the coaching staff to prove that this year was an anomaly for the Buckeyes- let’s hope this is the truth.