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Here are 5 things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes’ loss at Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Here are five things we learned from Ohio State’s 30-24 loss at Michigan on Saturday.
Slow start proved fatal
It took time for the Buckeyes to kick into high gear in most of their wins this fall.
In four out of the last five weeks, they were unable to score more than one touchdown in the first half and even trailed Rutgers at halftime earlier this month.
Entering this weekend, they ranked 33rd in the Football Bowl Subdivision in first-half scoring with an average of 16 points, a drop-off from last season when they were third with an average of 23 points over the first and second quarters.
The slow starts had not doomed them as they pulled away from overmatched opponents, but cost them in a matchup with another top-five team.
Ohio State gift-wrapped the first touchdown for Michigan in the first quarter after an interception from quarterback Kyle McCord positioned the Wolverines at the Buckeyes’ 7-yard line.
The Buckeyes would later fall behind Michigan, 14-3, in the second quarter, before adding a touchdown ahead of halftime.
The deficit allowed the Wolverines to control the ball in the second half and maintain possession for 18:15 out of 30 minutes.
Fourth-down decisions shaped the result
Ohio State coach Ryan Day twice opted not to go for it on fourth down during the first half.
The second appeared to be the most agonizing call as the Buckeyes settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt as the remaining seconds of the second quarter waned.
When McCord completed a pass to tight end Cade Stover for a gain of 7 yards, the Buckeyes were set up for fourth-and-2 at Michigan’s 34-yard line.
But rather than attempt to move the chains and take a shot at the end zone, they allowed the clock to run down until only 3 seconds were left and sent out kicker Jayden Fielding to try a career-long field goal.
Fielding made a practice attempt from that distance after Michigan called a timeout to ice him, but missed the live one as time expired leading into halftime.
“If you make it, you feel great,” Day said. “If you don’t, you don’t. He missed it, so you second guess everything.”
Day felt the attempt was the “right thing to do,” believing going for it would have risked coming up empty on a drive that began at Ohio State’s 2- yard line.
“If you don’t convert,” he added, “you don’t get anything.”
The Buckeyes had also faced a fourth-and-1 at their 46-yard line in the first quarter, but opted to punt.
Michigan went for it on fourth down three times and converted three times, including a fourth-and-1 in the first when the Wolverines were just shy of the end zone. Rather than try a field goal, Blake Corum ran in for a 1-yard touchdown.
The situations contributed to the Wolverines getting out to the early lead with Day appearing a tad conservative.
A decision on the recruiting trail will be scrutinized
Just weeks into the start of his tenure as the Buckeyes’ coach in 2019, Day extended a scholarship to a quarterback out of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia.
By the end of April, that sophomore was committed.
McCord was the passer picked for Ohio State’s recruiting class for 2021 rather than J.J. McCarthy.
Day has carefully managed the all-important position for years, resulting in little to find fault with as three consecutive quarterbacks were selected as finalists for the Heisman Trophy, but offering McCord over McCarthy is a decision bound to draw closer scrutiny in the aftermath of this weekend.
McCarthy, in his second season as Michigan’s starting quarterback, helped engineer another win in The Game.
Though he threw for only 148 yards and a touchdown, he was accurate, completing 16 of 20 passes, including connecting on his final seven attempts, and scrambled for 15 yards to continue a touchdown drive in the third quarter that broke a 17-17 tie.
McCord threw 271 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off twice. He could rewrite his legacy in the rivalry next season, but for now, Day’s decision on the recruiting trail will be reexamined as McCarthy looked like the one who got away by out-dueling his counterpart.
Ryan Day’s tenure remains defined by Michigan
The records of Ohio State coaches against Michigan can be cited offhand among the most ardent fans.
Urban Meyer went 7-0.
Jim Tressel was 9-1.
John Cooper held the dismal 2-10-1 mark.
Day is now 1-3, a track record that will continue to shape the perception of this era even as he holds a 56-7 overall record.
The effects of a loss to the Wolverines will not be as profound in coming seasons as the College Football Playoff expands and the Big Ten ditches divisions.
If this scenario was to repeat next season, the Buckeyes would have another shot to topple Michigan in the league championship game, which will pit the two teams with the best conference records against one another.
But as the sport is constructed at present, losing to the Wolverines has cost the Buckeyes a Big Ten title for a third straight season and will likely prevent them from reaching the playoff for the second time in three years.
Not to mention rivalry tensions have been running high, the result of a sign stealing scandal at Michigan that resulted in coach Jim Harbaugh’s suspension for three game and increased vitriol in the buildup to kickoff.
At a time when Buckeye Nation was desperate for a two-game losing streak against its bitter rival to be snapped, it only continued.
The last time Day prevailed over Michigan was in his first season in 2019. (The 2020 clash was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.)
Playoff odds are low
Ohio State took the backdoor to the playoff last season following a loss to Michigan, a result of the Atlantic Coast and Pac-12 conferences being unable to produce a champion with fewer than two losses.
But plotting a similar path will be difficult this time around, even as it is again 11-1.
There has been a cluster of unbeaten Power Five conference teams near the top of the rankings. Five teams were 11-0 heading into this weekend for the first time ever.
It’s not an implausible script, but more chaos will need to unfold in order for the Buckeyes to crack the four-team postseason.
A New Year’s Six bowl bid is the more likely outcome at this stage, a postseason fate that will bring a handful of player opt-outs with Ohio State out of the national championship race.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.