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2026 Season

Bulletpoints: Texas

Thoughts on the Buckeyes' 24-23 loss to the Longhorns.

Bulletpoints: Texas
  • For the majority of three quarters, Texas did everything they could to hand Ohio State this game. A turnover on the first play. A should've-been touchdown to Cam Coleman that miraculously ended in an Ohio State interception. Ryan Wingo dropping another sure-fire TD that ultimately led to Texas settling for a field goal. There's no reason Ohio State shouldn't have walked out of Austin with a double-digit win. Instead, they –like many of Day's previous teams– failed to step on the Longhorns' throat, let them back into the game, and ultimately crumbled at the end.
  • This is the pinnacle of Ryan Day losses:
  • The fact that Ohio State couldn't take advantage of everything Texas handed them is the most disturbing thing to me when it comes to projecting them moving forward. You don't establish a 23-3 lead by not playing well, but it wasn't like they outright dominated Texas in every facet, and then the Longhorns magically flipped a switch. I have a hard time envisioning Indiana, Iowa, USC, Oregon, or Michigan making the sheer amount of mistakes Texas did that led to Ohio State's lead in the first place.
  • Of all Day's high-profile losses, this takes the 'organizational failure' cake. Why? Because there isn't just one thing or person to blame - everyone had a hand in it. Julian Sayin missed throws and looked skittish in the pocket. The offensive line got worked in the second half. Explosive runs were non-existent. Bo Jackson was the second-leading receiver. The defense couldn't get off the field when a stop would've likely sealed the game multiple times. Matt Patricia was too content to sit back instead of attacking. Even Jeremiah Smith –as great as he played for most of the game– had three chances to make second-half catches that he couldn't come down with. Special teams provided their customary botch with the game on the line. Day chose to punt at Texas' 39 instead of going for the kill to start the third quarter, then bungled the decision of whether to let Texas score or not at the end - leaving the offense with little time to potentially get in field goal range. The reason people are so angry about this loss –outside of blowing a 20-point fourth quarter lead– is that it has the worst of the Day era's fingerprints all over it. Mix the redzone issues of 2019 Clemson with the blown lead of 2022 Georgia, the sinking dread of knowing what's about to happen in the Michigan losses, and the special teams failures of any loss you want to pick, and you've got the ultimate Day disasterclass.
  • It's extremely fitting that he's the first coach to pull off this feat:
  • "I can't believe that happened" doesn't apply to this game. Everything that happened is extremely believable, because we've seen it before.
  • On the theme of organizational failure: Legend Bey and certain other young players not getting much run is a symptom of a greater problem. In a world where Ohio State isn't out of the playoff with one loss –or even two– it's ridiculous that Day chooses to manage young players like he's in the BCS era. Ohio State was desperate for any type of explosive play beyond throwing it up to Jeremiah Smith. Attempting one gadget play with Bey early in the game, then giving up when it doesn't work isn't good enough. Arthur Smith needs to own that as much as Day does.
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  • Past Day teams have been able to lean on significant talent advantages over opponents to mask their deficiencies. It's early in the season, but the 2026 version doesn't look close to as talented as previous years. The idea of them having to live on the margins more this season with a greater emphasis on Day's game management is terrifying.
  • Day's shown in the past that nothing less than a loss will force his hand on changing certain things. I think the likelihood of them taking away the wrong lessons from this game had they hung on and won is high. We'd hear the usual Day platitudes about knowing it'd be a "four-quarter game/slugfest/heavyweight fight." Maybe actually losing it will force them to approach the rest of the season differently. There's my little bit of cope.
  • The linebacker play was awful all game. Even before they blew the lead, safety Earl Little Jr. –who I thought had a nice game– saved their ass in run support a handful of times.
  • Here's one I didn't notice during the game:
  • That's all I got. I'm not doing, "Well that sucked, but here are a couple of positives to take away!" after they blew a 20-point fourth quarter lead in primetime. Time to get amped for Kent State!

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