The Ohio State Buckeyes suffered a historic 24-14 loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl Classic, which was largely the result of the offense's shortcomings. The Athletic's Cameron Teague Robinson saw two main offenders who dragged down the effort: quarterback Julian Sayin and right guard Gabe VanSickle.
Sayin, who became a Heisman candidate based on his efficiency, wasn't making reads quickly enough against a Canes secondary that had a level of athleticism he hadn't seen. As Teague Robinson noted, he held onto the ball too long, which led to five sacks and 22 pressures, not to mention two picks in his 13 incompletions.
VanSickle, meanwhile, was a big reason Sayin took so much heat. VanSickle, of note, was making his first start against the Hurricanes and was the rolling snowball that caused the avalanche on one of the game's key plays, Keionte Scott's pick-six.
"Ohio State’s third offensive play of the game should’ve been a sign of things to come. Facing a third-and-7, quarterback Julian Sayin dropped back to pass, and before he could even make a read, he was being put into the turf by Miami defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, who has terrorized opponents all season in tandem with future first-round pick Rueben Bain. Right guard Gabe VanSickle didn’t get off the ball, and Mesidor went right by him, nearly untouched, for the easiest of his two sacks on the night," Teague wrote.
"While at first look it just seemed like VanSickle was beat, it was also an error in game plan and execution. The Buckeyes went into Wednesday’s game with a silent snap count plan. Sayin’s job was to diagnose the pressure that was coming, and then left guard Luke Montgomery would look back at Sayin and tap center Carson Hinzman when Sayin was ready to receive the ball. Day was hoping to minimize the noise from inside AT&T Stadium."
"But the system led to a bad start for the sophomore guard making his first career start, and everything snowballed from there."
"Even when Sayin did have time to throw, he couldn’t diagnose the coverage he was seeing and held onto the ball too long. That’s what led to the sack when Ohio State got to the Miami 16-yard line in the second quarter, one play before Sayin’s crushing 72-yard pick six on a screen to Brandon Inniss, in which poor blocking by receiver Jeremiah Smith allowed Keionte Scott to spring free and jump in front of the pass."
The loss was the worst in CFP history for a team from a spread perspective, and because many overlooked Miami and were already looking ahead to the Fiesta Bowl, this undoubtedly was.
Ryan Day's countless mistakes warms his seat back up
Hot seat talk would be crazy if Ohio taxpayers weren't on the hook for a roster that didn't bring home the goods. Day made countless mistakes, but even if VanSickle didn't have to play as an emergency starter, it's possible Tegra Tshabola would've had the same issues.
The stakes are too high for there to be a glaring weakness in the trenches like that. Day and his next offensive coordinator need to make sure these issues don't re-emerge next year.
If so, Day will have less of a leash. His seat's temperature went up after the Cotton Bowl, even if it's not yet close to boiling.