There has never been a worse collapse in Ohio State football history than what transpired on Saturday night. Blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter was inexcusable, and it is a black mark on Ryan Day's resume. It also gives the Buckeyes their first loss of the season.
With this loss happening in embarrassing fashion, there are changes that have to be made. Ryan Day must make these changes as quickly as possible because this team has some serious issues, and the schedule doesn't get much easier.
1. Be more aggressive offensively late in games
Part of the reason why the Ohio State Buckeyes lost this game is the fact that they were not aggressive enough offensively. They took their foot off the gas. When they were aggressive, they did it in the wrong spots, including Julian Sayin throwing a go-ball to Jeremiah Smith on 3rd-and-4 on the second-to-last drive.
Day has yet to find the proper balance of aggressiveness and conservatism in his tenure as the head coach. Even when he was calling plays, he still wasn't sure how to handle things. Figuring out the right balance would have given Ohio State the win, because Texas wouldn't have had enough time to come back.
2. Find a second receiver who can be trusted
Jeremiah Smith was fantastic for most of the game, save for two drops at the end of the game. However, no other receivers were able to make an impact. In fact, all other receivers combined for two catches for 24 yards. Devin McCuin and Brandon Inniss had just one catch each.
This was an especially disappointing performance for McCuin. After scoring a touchdown in Week 1 against Ball State, the UTSA transfer was expected to be someone who could be counted on. Instead, he was invisible. He even had a huge drop on a perfectly thrown back-shoulder pass from Sayin.
This might be the most important issue that Ohio State faces. Whether it be McCuin, Inniss, Chris Henry Jr., or still-injured Kyle Parker, someone needs to step up. This team cannot just rely on Smith the entire season as the only receiver. That has to change.
3. Matt Patricia must be more aggressive defensively
In the fourth quarter, Matt Patricia had the defense playing way too conservatively. Instead of sending multiple guys from different directions at Arch Manning, he opted to keep dropping seven or eight guys in coverage every play. Manning had enough time that he was able to eventually find guys open.
Patricia cannot be that afraid to send blitzers late in games. One of the reasons why the Longhorns struggled for most of the game was the fact that Ohio State was able to confuse him. He wasn't confused in the fourth quarter because the coverages were pretty simple to read.
This was Patricia's first real dud as Ohio State's defensive coordinator since arriving in Columbus last season. Hopefully, this is a lesson that is well-learned, and he won't do this again for the rest of the year.
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