Yeah, pretty much. The manner of the loss was terrible, but it’s so early in the season.
The team’s going to look a lot different in 4 games. They rotated more last night than in most MAC games, and they had to due to heat, but it did them no favors. The starting 3 WRs will be playing most of the snaps going forward, and at some point Alford, Pettijohn, and maybe Wilder will be starters.
My main concern is the OL and passing game under pressure. It looked better last night than the end of ‘25, but it’s not there yet. Then again, it’s the 2nd game. They will continue to be blitzed until they can prove it’s ineffective, but unlike last year, they have much more time to solve it. If they can, OSU will be the premier offense in the country and teams will have to pick their poison.
I also like the kicker and don’t like how many fans have called it another ST disaster. He’ll miss some, but he can hit it from 50-55 and that’s not something OSU has had in decades
One thing Im not certain on, is that this team will look that much different in 4 games, OSU will definitely play worse teams and look better. That being said, one of the themes with Day (just an observation by me, I could be wrong) is that whatever issues the team has, typically doesn't get resolved. There's enough talent to pick up 10 wins a year (although this year I'm not so sure), but what has Day done to make you think any of that will ACTUALLY get cleaned up over the course of the season. Every season feels like a fight to out do our deficiencies, not a fight to fix these crippling problems (kicker, OL, playing too tight with bad timing).
I'm NOT in the camp of Fire Day at all, thats ridiculous, he's still learning on the job, but it's possible this is just who he is. The deck is stacked is every year, and we have a surprisingly short amount of national success considering the talent. And for the record, that particular issue is not on Day alone, this is a theme with Buckeye football since I've been watching, both Urb and Tress left a lot of great opportunities unfulfilled.
It's a bit torturous being an OSU fan. ALWAYS in the mix (which is a blessing we as fans likely take for granted), but rarely taking home the big prize (given the talent and the number of chances I mean, OSU has still outperformed everyone besides bama in that regard). Nature of the beast I guess. Good news is, OSU seems to step it up when they're completely counted out. The close calls in 02, the QB mess in 14, and the Michigan L in 24...hopefully we can add last night's conundrum to the list of things we thought would ruin a season.
I believe, but I'm extremely cautious about too much blind optimism.
