Fact: Ohio State Was 1 Blown Targeting Call Away From Winning The National Championship

Ok so I think we’re all on the same page this morning that Ohio State is the clear #2 team in the country. I’m glad I don’t need to argue that. When you lead the entire game until the very end against Georgia, only to see them go on and win by a million points against TCU, I am glad we are the Undisputed National Runners-Up. If you haven’t heard of the Transitive Property, look it up.

However, one thing that has been irking me this morning is the idea that Ohio State was “one defensive stop away from being National Champions”. Or even worse, that we were “one missed field goal away from being National Champions”. I’ve seen both on Twitter and I heard both while listening to sports talk radio on my ride in to work today. While both are true statements, neither are the most correct statement, nor that infuriating. Our college kicker missed a 50 yard FG. Not the end of the world. Our defense got lit up in the 4th quarter by what some are calling the best college football team in the last 20 years. It happened to us just like it happened to everyone else. Those statements don’t make me cringe on the inside.

But LET’S BE VERY CLEAR: Ohio State was one blown targeting call away from winning the National Championship. And that is SICKENING.

How do you watch that and REVERSE the targeting call on the field? As Marvin Harrison laid there with a head injury. How does a player get knocked out with a concussion if he wasn’t hit in the head?

I’m completely serious when I say this: that missed call will go down as the worst missed call in the history of sports. It literally altered history. Ohio State would have won the National Championship. Recruits would have flocked to play for the great Ryan Day. Georgia would not have a dynasty. The pain from the embarrassing losses to Michigan would have lessened by a substantial amount. And people’s lives would go in completely different directions, including CJ Stroud who is leaving with no Big 10 or National Titles. Legacy changing blown call. 

The fact of the matter is there was a 100.0% chance that Ohio State wins that game if one of two things happen: the targeting call stands correct on the field and Ohio State punches it in on the 1st and Goal from the 3 yard line they would have had, going up 18 points in the 4th. OR, if Marvin Harrison wasn’t knocked out of the game due to targeting to the head that caused a concussion although the refs say he wasn’t hit in the head. If either one of those things are true, Ohio State wins that game easily. And everyone knows it. Instead, both go the other way and they lose 42-41 on a missed field goal to a team that went on to win the title 65-7.

Sickening. But congrats to Georgia on their Back-to-Back Championships*