Ohio State football loses thanks to poor defense

The Ohio State football team had one job in the offseason. That job was to improve the defense. The defense cost them a national title last year. Kerry Coombs had months to fix the defense. He failed miserably and it cost the Buckeyes in a 35-28 loss to Oregon in the Shoe.

In an embarrassing display of football, Ohio State put up over 600 yards of offense and still lost the game. They failed to stop the run all game long and left receivers wide open all game long. Once Josh Proctor went down, Bryson Shaw showed that he is not up to snuff as a backup safety.

The Buckeyes also failed to have a single sack in this game. For having such good pass rushers on paper, they now have two sacks in two games of play. That is simply pitiful. Anthony Brown had all day to sit in the pocket and find wide open guys.

Despite for throwing close to 500 yards, C.J. Stroud folded on big moments. Early on, his receivers didn’t do him any favors as they were dropping all kinds of passes. But late in the game with the game on the line, Stroud missed a few passes that would have been touchdowns to tie the game. Simply put, he just wasn’t good enough.

Besides the defense, the worst performance was by the offensive line. They could not open up holes in the running game all day long. That forced Ohio State to be one-dimensional on offense and fed right into Oregon’s hands. The all-tackle offensive line may not be working.

I’m as frustrated as I’ve ever been after a Buckeye game. To lose at home to that team is unacceptable. The Ohio State football team has more talent than they do. This shouldn’t have been the result.