Ohio State feels loss to USC in latest AP Top 25 ahead of the first College Football Playoff rankings release
The College Football Playoff will release its first rankings of the season on Tuesday. Ahead of it, Ohio State has taken a big tumble in the AP Top 25.
The Ohio State Buckeyes took a tough loss on the chin in Week 9, falling 30-18 to the USC Trojans. The dust has settled, and Ohio State now has to pick up the pieces with freshman quarterback Luke Fahey leading the way. Fahey played well enough for the Buckeyes to win, but the rest of the team didn’t hold up its end.
Red zone struggles, penalties, special teams errors, and a poor defensive performance combined to drop Ohio State to 6-2. The Buckeyes are now in a must-win situation the rest of the way if they want to reach the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State falls in the AP Top 25 after USC upset
Going into the game, Ohio State was ranked No. 2 in the country and USC was unranked as a two-loss team. USC coach Lincoln Riley needed a win, and the temperature on his seat was getting hot. Riley’s team got the big upset, and the Buckeyes took a fall in the rankings as a result.
Ohio State is now No. 11 in the latest AP poll. The Buckeyes also sit third in the Big Ten, behind the No. 5 UCLA Bruins and No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers. The Buckeyes will see their first spot in the College Football Playoff rankings ahead of Week 10.
The numbers make the loss even tougher to swallow coming out of Southern California. Ohio State outgained USC 464 yards to 338 yards, and both teams punted the same number of times. The Buckeyes also had the ball for 19 more minutes than the Trojans. Winning those battles usually leads to a win on the scoreboard, but that wasn’t the case in this one.
Ohio State didn’t hold up its end around Luke Fahey
The message from Ohio State going into the week was that the Buckeyes had to be better around their freshman quarterback. It just didn’t happen against USC.
The defense had an uncharacteristic day, and the special teams errors hurt. Ohio State also committed 11 penalties, which made life harder on an offense that already had trouble finishing drives in the red zone.
Buckeyes still control their own path to the College Football Playoff
There is good news for Ohio State. The Buckeyes still control everything in front of them when it comes to making the College Football Playoff. The formula is simple: win out.
That starts with the Oregon Ducks coming to Ohio Stadium in Week 10. Oregon had been reeling, but the Ducks did pick up a ranked win over Northwestern in Week 9. It’s a must-win game for the Buckeyes, and cleaning up the penalties and special teams mistakes is going to be key.
From there, Ohio State has to keep stacking wins, including a big end-of-November matchup against the Michigan Wolverines in Columbus. There’s no margin for error left on the schedule, and next month will show what this Buckeyes team is made of.
