Ohio State had a chance to prove the doubters and the critics wrong last night. Julian Sayin was injured against Indiana in a close victory. That injury will likely sideline him for the rest of the season. Because of that, Luke Fahey had to start against USC. It was a disaster.
Fahey played fine for a true freshman quarterback making the first start on the road. He threw for 260 yards and a touchdown on 21-of-38 passes. Yet, it's very clear that the Buckeyes have no shot of winning a national championship without Sayin if he is going to miss some of the throws he did.
Ohio State has no chance to win a national title without Julian Sayin
For a three-star true freshman making his first start, Fahey made the mistakes he was expected to make. He missed Devin McCuin twice for easy touchdowns. In fact, Jeremiah Smith was the only receiver who was really able to do anything, which isn't any different from what the normal offense does.
However, it showed that the margins for error are incredibly small without Sayin. Sayin likely makes those plays, which gives Ohio State a chance. Without him behind center, the Buckeyes have to be absolutely perfect in all other aspects of their football team.
Ohio State was far from perfect on defense and special teams. Quite frankly, Matt Patricia deserves a lot of the blame for this loss. He had two weeks to prepare his defense for a Trojans offense that only scored seven points against Wisconsin. His unit blew it in spectacular fashion.
Allowing USC to score 30 points in the rain is unacceptable. Ryan Day talked about needing to lean on the defense coming into this game in order to win. They were not able to do that, and Fahey didn't get the support he needed to win this game. Fahey's receivers had some horrible drops, too.
Ryan Day clearly doesn't trust Luke Fahey to run the Ohio State offense
Perhaps the most damming thing to come out of this game is how bad the play-calling was. Ohio State did not trust Fahey to let it rip, even when they were down two scores in the fourth quarter. For some reason, Day insisted on running the ball and taking forever to get down the field.
It took the Buckeyes almost six minutes to score to cut the lead to 27-18. Day then went for two and didn't convert. Why was the offense moving so slowly? Why was there no urgency to get on the line of scrimmage and throw the ball more? It's clear there is a lack of trust between the coaching staff and Fahey.
Ohio State now has two losses on the season. They have no margin for error the rest of the way. Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and TTUN are the opponents they have left. Both the Ducks and the Wildcats have a lot of talent, even if they season has started to get away from both teams.
If Day doesn't fix how the defense and special teams played, things could get ugly quickly. Turning to Tavien St. Clair shouldn't be out of the question, either.
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