The Ohio State Buckeyes missed execution on a few key plays, and it was too much to overcome against a well-prepared Miami Hurricanes team, who upset the Buckeyes 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Julian Sayin finished with 287 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, with Jeremiah Smith catching seven passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.
Ohio State ends its season with a 12-2 record and will start its 2026 season in September at home against Ball State.
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1) The one missed block came in the first half when a play developed in slow motion (it seemed) as Julian Sayin attempted a screen pass.
Jeremiah Smith didn't block his man, so Kelonte Scott shot through to grab the lob and race seventy-two yards for the score that Ohio State never really recovered from.
2) Watching the replay. It's hard to see whether Smith missed the block or just thought he could get away with minimal contact.
Either way, that missed block set the tone for the remainder of the game.
3) The first half saw the Buckeye offense struggle until the final drive of the half, and Jayden Fielding trotted onto the field for his first field goal attempt since his catastrophic short miss against Indiana in the Big Ten title game.
Forty-nine yards is hardly a chip shot, especially for a college kicker, but you need your kicker to come through when needed, especially when 14-3 and some momentum would have meant so much compared to 14-0.
Fielding missed.
4) Another underrated play of note happened in the final quarter when punter Joe McGuire smashed a fifty-three-yard punt and forced a Hurricane fair catch at their own eleven.
This would have been a great chance for Ohio State, then trailing 17-14, to get a stop and the ball back for a potential winning drive.
Ohio State was called for illegal formation, McGuire's second punt traveled twenty yards less, and Miami started at their own thirty-one instead.
5) Ryan Day needs to re-evaluate the program's acquisitions of kickers and punters because, far too often in recent years, the kicking game in Columbus has come up short against good teams.
I know the theory against using scholarships, etc., on kickers who so seldom make a difference during the season at powerful programs, but they can make a tremendous difference in big games and often cost one.
6) And sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way.
In the third quarter, Miami's Malachi Toney took a tremendous lick from Caleb Downs, causing him to fumble.
However, the ball bounced right back into the arms of a stumbling Toney, who recovered the ball and allowed Miami to kick a field goal on the next play.
Honestly, that might have been the biggest play in the game, as a turnover would have resulted in three fewer points for the Canes and kept momentum rolling for Ohio State, who had scored their first touchdown on the previous drive.
7) On the final scoring drive of the game, when Ohio State needed a stop, it was the Hurricane offensive line that made the difference as they physically pounded the Buckeye defense with their running game.
Miami moved seventy yards and threw the ball only twice on the drive that put the game in the Miami column.
8) The offensive line struggled to keep the Miami pass rush off Julian Sayin, especially in the first half.
Miami does have two defensive linemen who are expected to be high first-rounders (Reuben Bain and Akheem Mesidor) in the NFL Draft, and the Buckeyes did a better job protecting Sayin in the second half. The Hurricanes sacked Sayin five times, equalling Indiana's sack haul against Ohio State.
9) Now we head to the silly season of the transfer portal, where the Buckeyes will bring in players and lose others.
Ohio State will lose several defensive starters, and especially the back seven will take its share of new arrivals.
Face it, the bottom third of the roster is going to churn over constantly in the new world of college football, and whether we like it or not, college football has changed, and Ohio State has to be prepared to change with it.
10) I'm disappointed with the end of the season, but I'd grade it as an average season.
Had you asked me before the season if I would take two regular-season losses, a CFP berth, and a dominating win over Michigan if offered?
I would have.
Remember, Texas and Penn State were regarded as top-five teams entering the season, and losses to each of those teams weren't out of the realm of possibility, so I would have taken the offer.
Still, losing the final two games was a bit galling, I can't lie, but I've felt worse at the end of seasons.
11) Watch for the CFP to move to sixteen teams without byes.
I don't blame rust for the defeat to Miami, who outplayed OSU and deserved the win, but it's fair to wonder if that will change after seven of the eight teams that received byes in the first two years of the CFP were defeated.
I'm okay with sixteen, although there will be even more non-competitive first-round games. However, I would prefer that the first two rounds be held at campus locations.
I'm not sure if the current contract for the playoffs would allow so many non-neutral games, but that's my hope.
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