Buckeye Nation’s worst nightmare became a reality on the final night of 2025. Ohio State lost to Miami 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl, ending the Buckeyes’ season and their dream of becoming back-to-back national champions.
Now we have nine months to not only figure out what exactly went wrong in the loss to the Hurricanes, but we’ll also try to figure out how to avoid a similar fate in the 2026 season. While we’ll have plenty of time to take a closer look at what needs to change, today we’ll take a look at what led to a shocking loss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Goodbye is obviously a disadvantage
Last year, Ohio State used a first-round win as a springboard to its magical title run. With Wednesday night’s loss to the Buckeyes, the team that earned a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff is now 0-5 in the quarterfinals.
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Miami came out strong in the first half of the Cotton Bowl, taking a 14-0 lead, but Ohio State was never able to tie the game. The Buckeyes hadn’t faced such a big deficit all season, and while they were able to pull back to 17-14, they ran out of steam late in the fourth quarter.
The bye didn’t help Ohio State, which has had a slow start to the season. Having played Texas less than two weeks ago, Miami doesn’t need to shake off the rust that Ohio State did. The Hurricanes were able to find a rhythm early, which ended up being the difference in the game.
Offensive line fails Buckeye offense
Entering the Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State’s offensive line had allowed just six sacks on the season. Indiana and Miami each had five sacks against the Buckeyes in their two losses. Julien Sain couldn’t overcome the relentless pressure he saw in these games.
Despite facing constant pressure, Sain was still able to throw for over 250 yards in the last two games. The problem Wednesday night was that Ohio State took too long to adjust to what they saw from Ruben Bane Jr., Akhim Mesido and the rest of Miami’s defense.
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The reason the offensive line’s performance against the Hurricanes was so frustrating is that the Buckeyes’ best blockers in the game ended up being tight ends Max Clare and Will Kamalek. Although starting guard Tegla Chabra is out with an injury, it’s not like Gabe VanSickle and Joshua Padilla have never played. For a team that bullied their opponents in the first 12 games of the season, they failed to rise in the biggest games.
Special Forces remain a problem
Can we go back to the days when Ohio State really cared about special teams? Tresselball is essentially built on special teams and helps win games. While the team’s performance has declined under Urban Meyer, it’s clear he still knows their importance.
I can’t say the same for Ryan Day. On New Year’s Eve, special teams failed Ohio State for the second time. Rather than saying that Jayden Fielding missed a 49-yard field goal before halftime, it was better to say that Jayden Fielding missed a 49-yard field goal before halftime. But no one expected him to succeed. How could one of the top college football programs in the country not have a more reliable kicking option? All Buckeye fans will remember that Fielding made a habit of missing the ball when his team needed it most during his time at Ohio State.
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While punter Joe McGuire was decent at the call, he didn’t have as good a night as Dylan Joyce. The Miami punter dropped several punts in perfect position, trapping the Buckeyes deep in their own end. Being able to leave Ohio State with little room to maneuver is a huge advantage for the Hurricanes.
Ryan Day needs to hang up his game calling hat
When Ryan Day announced he would be calling the plays in the Cotton Bowl, it was concerning. It’s not that he doesn’t have a strong offensive mind; with all the other responsibilities he has as Ohio State’s head coach, it’s just too much for him. Last year was when he was at his best, able to focus on all other areas of the game while Chip Kelly ran the offense.
Brian Hartline took over the job at South Florida and obviously had a huge impact on the offense. I know Hartline wanted to spend the season at his alma mater, but ended up hurting the team more than helping in the final two games. With too many cooks in the kitchen, the game plan suffered.
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Unfortunately, there’s no real solution to the situation the Buckeyes are facing. The best they can do is see if Kelly returns as an offensive assistant after being fired by the Raiders. Kelly may not want to do this because it would hurt his chances of getting another job elsewhere.
Now, Day must find his next offensive coordinator. After seeing how the Buckeyes performed in the final two games of the season, it’s hard to argue for hiring the current staff. Maybe Day could lure someone like Brian Daboll to Columbus and give him complete control of the offense. Hopefully, Day can suppress his pride and realize that being the CEO of the Ohio State football program is what he does best and hand off the offense to someone else.
Ohio State’s defense isn’t as good as it should be
Carson Baker struggled Wednesday night, but he was good enough. After seeing Texas A&M beat Baker in the first round, it seemed fundamental that Ohio State would be able to harass Baker in the Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Baker was able to move around and make some simple throws to keep the chains moving. In a sense, it’s like dying from a thousand paper cuts.
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What was really disappointing was that the offense had a chance to get the ball back in the fourth quarter and the defense couldn’t stop them. Miami bullied the Buckeyes on the ground late in the game, eliminating any chance of a comeback win.
It would be wrong to put all the blame on the defense as the offense put them at a disadvantage and had to make plays for most of the game. Still, for a team that has allowed just over 100 points in games this season, they needed to find a way to at least give Julian Sayin and his team a chance, but that didn’t happen.
One thing that struck me was how quiet Avre Reese was during the second half of the season. Although he will likely be selected in the first round of the NFL draft in April, his stock may dip slightly since he didn’t appear in Ohio State’s biggest game of the year. If anything, being largely absent against Indiana and Miami might make teams think twice about moving him so high.