The Ohio State Buckeyes suffered their first loss of the 2025 season in the conference championship game to Indiana, slipping from the top ranking to the second seed in the College Football Playoff.
But just like last year, this may end up serving the Buckeyes well in the long run, as Ohio State was on cruise control for most of the season. Now that OSU has faced adversity, the loss to the Hoosiers will only make the Bucks that much tougher a team to beat than before.
Ryan Day Using Loss As Opportunity To Improve
Although some teams may be crushed or demoralized by a tough loss, the Buckeyes are not going to be one of them. Head coach Ryan Day relayed the message that the team will use this loss as an opportunity to improve for the upcoming stretch run.
“This is not going to sit well with anybody,” Day said after the Indiana loss, “But we can use it as an opportunity to get better and grow. … To walk off that field without a championship is going to hurt. There’s a lot of guys in our locker room that are pissed off right now.”
Due to their extended losing streak to Michigan (which was snapped this season), Ohio State has not won a Big Ten Championship since the 2020 season. They had not even been in Indianapolis since the COVID-shortened season, as the archrival Wolverines won three straight Big Ten Championships before Oregon claimed the title over Penn State last season.
And it is not like the Buckeyes were thoroughly outplayed or dominated either. Against an Indiana team that had steamrolled most of its competition, the game played out as a defensive slugfest, with Ohio State having a 10-6 lead at halftime.
Many fans speculated that Jayden Fielding’s stunning field goal miss from point-blank range was a lesson for Day’s conservatism in the big moments. Even if Fielding had made the kick, Indiana would have had ample opportunity to win the game with the game tied, possession, and nearly three minutes to work with.
Day touched on the red-zone woes himself, with the Buckeyes getting stopped on a fourth-and-one with Julian Sayin’s knee being down behind the line to gain upon further review.
“We went down there two times and ended up with zero points,” said Day. “That’s how you lose the game.”
Precedence Points To Buckeyes Making Another Deep Run
The last time Ohio State lost 13-10, it was to hated Michigan for the fourth straight season. Unlike the previous three years, though, the Buckeyes were 21.5-point favorites, and the Wolverines were nowhere near title contenders, finishing the regular season 7-5.
However, that sparked a dominant playoff run from OSU, with the Buckeyes torching every opponent in their path en route to a national championship. The offense roared back to life for a dominant 42-17 win over Tennessee, despite many Volunteers fans flocking to Columbus for a rare Saturday night game in the Horseshoe.
Ohio State picked up right where they left off at the Rose Bowl, getting revenge on Oregon by blitzing the Ducks into a 34-0 halftime lead. Despite Oregon attempting a third-quarter comeback, the Buckeyes held on to win 41-21.
Taking on Texas in the Cotton Bowl, it appeared that Ohio State had met its match, but a 14-point swing caused by a strip-sack fumble recovery touchdown by Jack Sawyer saw the Buckeyes double up the Longhorns 28-14 in the Lone Star State.
And to complete the championship run, OSU responded to an opening touchdown drive by Notre Dame by scoring 31 unanswered points to take a 31-7 lead in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish responded with sixteen points, but Will Howard found Jeremiah Smith deep to set up Fielding’s 33-yard field goal attempt to ice the victory. Ohio State won it all by a margin of 34-23.
While the Buckeyes will likely have to contend with the likes of Georgia and/or face Indiana again if they were to get deep into the postseason this January, the precedent is there for the Buckeyes to use a tough loss as fuel for a trophy run. Throw in the element of revenge against both schools, and Ryan Day’s squad will have every reason to spend the next month working as hard as they can for the chance to repeat as national champions.
Ohio State will look to write its next playoff chapter starting on New Year’s Eve, when the #2 Buckeyes will take on the winner of the first-round showdown between #7 Texas A&M and #10 Miami. The game will kick off at 7:30 PM at the Cotton Bowl inside AT&T Stadium.
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