Ohio State lost to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night. The Buckeyes struggled to say the least.
Ryan Day received a lot of the blame — and rightfully so — for his team’s demoralizing performance.
However, all things considered, the Ohio State defense did a pretty good job. Missouri totaled 331 yards and scored just 14 points while punting eight times.
On the flip side, the Tigers defense was stifling. Or was the Buckeyes offense just that bad?
Maybe both.
Ohio State ran the ball 33 times for 130 yards. Lincoln Kienholz and Devin Brown combined for 10 completions on 23 pass attempts. Neither they, nor TreVeyon Henderson scored a touchdown.
They converted just two of 15 third down attempts, punted eight times and only recorded a field goal.
Brown and Kienholz weren’t great. Henderson did what he could.
The Buckeyes’ offensive line looked completely incompetent. It got ugly.
There is an argument to be made that some of the struggles were due to a young quarterback who was unable to adjust. The Tigers’ defensive line has been phenomenal all year and continued to dominate during the program’s 11th win of the year.
Both of those things are true.
But with that being said, Ohio State’s offensive line looked lost, out-matched and unprepared throughout the entire game. They were embarrassed time and time and time again.
For a Big Ten team that prides itself on its offensive front, it was an abysmal evening against a really strong test. Day will have to go back and reevaluate the entire position group during the offseason.
He is already pursuing a quarterback through the transfer portal. He will need to consider some new additions at offensive line as well.
What happened in the Cotton Bowl cannot happen again next season and beyond!