Ohio State got lost in the “White Out.”
It has happened before — 2005, to be exact — to a national championship-caliber Buckeyes team. On Saturday, No. 2 Ohio State blew a two-touchdown lead and gave up 17 fourth-quarter points in a 24-21 loss at Penn State.
There’s a difference between this year's loss and the 2005 one, however. That one cost the Buckeyes a chance at the BCS championship game. This one won’t cost Ohio State a chance at the four-team College Football Playoff. A one-loss Big Ten team will get in the playoff, and Ohio State lost a game the last time it won a national championship.
“Every goal is still alive,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said in his press conference afterward. “We’re not a great team right now.”
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The first part is 100 percent true. The Buckeyes can do the same thing Michigan State did last year. The Spartans lost to a Nebraska team that finished 5-7 but won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the CFP. There are more than enough chances to get back in the national spotlight this year, including a home game against No. 8 Nebraska and the regular-season finale at No. 3 Michigan before a possible Big Ten championship game. So, yes, every goal is still alive.
Not a good team right now? Ohio State isn’t playing like the team it is capable of being right now. Three recurring problems emerged:
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— The Buckeyes are still struggling to develop an over-the-top passing game. J.T. Barrett completed just two passes of 20 yards or more against the Nittany Lions, and those are the types of plays that get the Buckeyes’ offense going. Barrett hit tight end Marcus Baugh for a 26-yard touchdown in the second quarter for a 9-0 lead. The next big play in the passing game didn’t come until the fourth quarter, on a 34-yard crossing route to Noah Brown. Penn State also sacked Barrett five times in the second half. That offensive line play will need to be re-evaluated.
— Two special teams errors were costly. A missed extra point is one thing, but the blocked field-goal attempt that led to Grant Haley’s 60-yard return for a touchdown can’t happen in a road game.
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— Curtis Samuel had just two carries, and one of those was a 74-yard touchdown run. Samuel had 10 touches for 159 yards. Getting him more involved will be the go-to second-guess, but the running game isn’t broken.
The loss could have been avoided, but the Buckeyes simply got lost in the “White Out” for a quarter. It’s a fluky road loss.
That happens, especially in prime time in the Big Ten. Ohio State scored an impressive win against Oklahoma on Sept. 17 and won a Top 10 showdown at Wisconsin last week. Meyer is now 20-1 in true road games since coming to Ohio State in 2012. Who is really going to complain about that?
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Ohio State won’t have to if it keeps winning. All those goals are still alive, and the Buckeyes will be right at the front of the one-loss line with Louisville. They still control their destiny, even if that means not losing again.
Or not getting lost again.
