For the first time since 2011, Ohio State has two losses before November. On Halloween night, the Buckeyes' 30-18 loss to USC felt like watching a horror film. The Buckeyes came out and looked like the opposite of a team that had two weeks to prepare, and now their backs are firmly against the wall in their quest to get back to the College Football Playoff. After last night's performance, we have to ask ourselves: who is to blame?
Luke Fahey 5%
If you told me Ohio State was going to lose on Saturday night, I would have assumed it was because Luke Fahey wasn't ready to play. It would be easy to excuse that away. He's a true freshman making his first career start on the road against a pretty good team trying to keep their playoff hopes alive. That wasn't the case.
He certainly didn't perform to the level you'd expect from a guy like Julian Sayin, but he was mostly poised and made some good throws. For most of the game, it felt like they didn't trust him to make plays until they were down big in the fourth quarter and had no other choice but to turn him loose.
I originally wasn't even going to include him in this, but he had a few throws late in the game that were so off target that he didn't even give his guys a chance to make the play. If he can clean that up, I think Ohio State's offense should be able to run fine moving forward.
Offensive skill players 10%
Outside of Jeremiah Smith and Isaiah West, I can't say that any other skill player on the Buckeyes had a good game on Saturday night. Bo Jackson's first half was so bad that he probably should have been benched if they had any other options at running back.
He almost single-handedly kept the Buckeyes from scoring a touchdown late in the first half. On their final drive, Jackson dropped a pass with no one around him that probably would've gone for a touchdown. He also ran sideways on a first-and-goal run on the drive where Ohio State ultimately settled for a field goal.
The wide receivers didn't help much either. Julian Sayin has faced some criticism for throwing the ball to Jeremiah Smith too often and not looking the other receiver's way, but you saw why on Saturday night. Chris Henry Jr. had a critical drop on a Fahey scramble, and Devin McCuin dropped what would have been a touchdown pass that could've kept the Buckeyes in the game. Phillip Bell had some nice moments, but other guys have to step up.
Matt Patricia 15%
Matt Patricia looked like he went on vacation for the bye week. It was expected for the Buckeyes to give up some points against a talented USC offense, but the OSU defense didn't provide the necessary resistance.
Jayden Maiava consistently had way too much time to throw, as has become customary for the 2026 Buckeye defense. Good quarterbacks will pick you apart when you give them time like that. The only reason I can't put more blame on Patricia is that the offense was putting them in bad spots.
Tyler Bowen and Arthur Smith 20%
In the first half, Arthur Smith was calling plays like he didn't have any belief in Luke Fahey. That's understandable to a point, but it should have gone out the window when the Buckeyes were trailing by multiple scores, as they were for the entire second half. The worst of it was when the Buckeyes took six minutes to score when they trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter. They seemed like a team that just wanted to not get blown out as opposed to a team that really wanted to win.
As for Tyler Bowen, I can't think of a single reason he should be Ohio State's offensive line coach beyond this season. Every time Ohio State plays a defensive line with a pulse, it looks like their first time playing football. Luke Wafle did whatever he wanted against them no matter who he lined up across.
Ian Moore at left tackle hasn't shown much improvement throughout this season. Gabe VanSickle doesn't look like an Ohio State football player; meanwhile, Tegra Tshabola is getting NFL draft hype at Kentucky. It's almost like they should have gone out and hired a real offensive line coach.
It would be easy to overlook these faults if they were recruiting well at the position, but they aren't even doing that. If you think it's bad now, just wait until next year. Carson Hinzman, Luke Montgomery, and Austin Siereveld are all part of Justin Frye's national championship-winning offensive line, and were largely developed pre-Bowen. Those guys are all going to be leaving after this year. If Ohio State runs out five Tyler Bowen-developed offensive linemen next year, I feel bad for whoever the quarterback is.
Ryan Day 50%
Honestly, 50% is probably too harsh here, but with the job description of head football coach at Ohio State, 50% is probably the minimum amount of blame you receive for losses. Other than the slow-paced offense and the decision to go for two late in the fourth, I don't really blame Ryan Day much for this game specifically, but everything in the program falls back on him.
If you think the coordinators had a bad game plan, Ryan Day is their boss, and he could've had more input. If you think the players aren't developing properly, that comes back on the guy who hired all of these assistant coaches, many of whom are pretty unqualified.
If you think the players just aren't good enough, Ryan Day and his staff recruited them. If you think the players didn't look prepared or didn't give the proper effort in a game where everyone needed to step up for their true freshman backup quarterback, blame the culture.
The culture starts and ends with the head coach. Now Ryan Day has four weeks until the Michigan Wolverines come to Columbus to get this fixed, and he can't afford to lose any more games along the way.
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