No program comes just short as often as Ohio State does
ATLANTA – Is there a college football team that experiences heartbreak as often or quite like Ohio State?
The Buckeyes are the only program in the country that has never endured a prolonged downturn. The last time they had consecutive losing seasons was a century ago, from 1922-24 as the Horseshoe opened.
Almost every year, Ohio State is in the national title conversation. That makes it all the more painful that only twice since 1968 have the Buckeyes won it all.
All those great John Cooper teams in the 1990s fell short late. Jim Tressel’s teams lost consecutive BCS title games after winning in 2002. Urban Meyer’s only title came in 2014. Ryan Day’s 2019 team suffered that devastating loss to Clemson in the CFP semifinal.
For much of Saturday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal against No. 1 and undefeated Georgia in the Peach Bowl, the Buckeyes looked to be in position to do what those teams couldn’t.
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Twice, Ohio State took two-touchdown leads against the defending champions. The Buckeyes had a 6-point lead with less than 3 minutes left. They got an epic performance from quarterback C.J. Stroud, who made the vaunted Bulldogs defense look like Rutgers’ at times with his precision passing and, yes, even with his legs to scramble or evade the pass rush to find a target.
When his 27-yard dash to the Georgia 30 on Ohio State’s final drive put the Buckeyes in field-goal range, OSU seemed destined to ring in the new year triumphantly. But the Buckeyes could get no closer. When Noah Ruggles, who made a 48-yard kick on OSU’s previous drive, missed a 50-yarder, the Buckeyes became another in the long line of could’ve, should’ves in a 42-41 loss.
Yet crushing disappointment shouldn’t be all the Buckeyes feel. The game came more than a month after their ugly 45-23 loss to Michigan. Critics questioned their toughness. They said they didn’t deserve to be in the CFP after such a loss. The Buckeyes could do nothing but take it and vow to prove themselves worthy against Georgia.
That they did.
More:Georgia 42, Ohio State 41: Scarlet & Gray Matter analysis
The Bulldogs hadn’t truly been tested all season. If any of several plays had gone Ohio State’s way, the Buckeyes would be headed to California to play TCU for the title.
What if Lathan Ransom’s tackle of tight end Brock Bowers on fourth down had been confirmed to be short of a first down on replay review instead of overturned? The field goal that followed proved huge.
What if Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart hadn’t called timeout just before OSU’s successful fake punt in the fourth quarter? Georgia scored on a 76-yard touchdown pass to start its final comeback right after that.
Biggest of all, what if the targeting call on the Bulldogs on the end zone hit to Marvin Harrison Jr. hadn’t been reversed? Not only did it force Ohio State to settle for a field goal instead of having first-and-goal, but it knocked the star receiver out of the game with a concussion.
“I was told that it was not targeting, that he didn’t take a shot to the head,” Day said. “I didn’t see it, so I don’t know, but to get a concussion and not get hit in the head… I’d have to see the replay.”
None of that would have mattered if Ohio State’s defense had risen to the challenge. Except for a stretch in the third quarter, it didn’t. The Bulldogs had 10 plays that gained at least 20 yards.