The 2025 season didn’t end how the Ohio State Buckeyes had hoped after going 12-0 in the regular season. A year after the Buckeyes won a national title, they were bounced in the first round of the College Football Playoff by the Miami Hurricanes. 

Ohio State has big expectations in 2026 with Jeremiah Smith in Year 3 and Julian Sayin returning as the starting quarterback under head coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes know they have to finish stronger, which was recently relayed by team leader WR Brandon Inniss. 

“We lost two games at the end of the year because of the fourth quarter,” wide receiver Brandon Inniss told ESPN in a recent interview. “We didn’t finish. That was our fault. We could have won that Miami game. We could have won the Indiana game.”

Ryan Day echoes Brandon Inniss’ statement about finishing 

“We’re going to have to win games in the fourth quarter this season,” Day said via ESPN. “Look at the schedule that we have. We’ve got to be really good at that.”

Ohio State is going to be in more fourth-quarter games during the 2026 regular season with a much tougher schedule. Day and the Buckeyes staff know they’re going to have to grind out some tough games, unlike the regular season they breezed through a year ago, before losing two tough games to end the year against Indiana and Miami. 

The Buckeyes will play Texas, Oregon, Indiana, USC, Michigan, and Iowa in 2026. Road matchups against Texas, Indiana, and USC will be no easy task for the Buckeyes, but that’s what they’re preparing for. 

Ohio State’s loss to Indiana where they fell 14-7 but missed out on two scoring opportunities to win the game in the fourth quarter seems to be sticking with this team. Tough opponents just like Indiana and Miami are going to be seen by Ohio State more frequently in 2026 and they have to be ready. 

What the Buckeyes are saying sounds good right now, but we have to see it happen when the chin straps are buckled up in September, and it’ll start Week 2 against the Texas Longhorns.