ANALYSIS: Buckeyes still trying to atone for last loss to Oregon

“Coming out of games like that, you learn a lot about yourself,” Day said this week.

Yes, three losses to Michigan have been damaging to the program, and the near-miss against Georgia in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals was frustrating for the team, but much of what Ohio State has done — or at least tried to do — since stems from that day three years ago.

Oregon essentially got the Ohio State defensive coordinator fired, Day later changed offensive line coaches and even removed himself as the primary play caller after some game management lapses against the Ducks.

Oregon entered with a reputation for outrunning teams out west but wilting against big, strong teams like Ohio State and those from the SEC, but the Ducks handled Ohio State in the trenches both ways and got enough clutch plays from their quarterback to come out a winner.

A program-defining victory for coach Mario Cristobal, who is now at Miami (Fla.), set off an existential crisis for Ohio State.

Sure, C.J. Stroud threw for nearly 500 yards, but the running game was unreliable and the defense looked helpless.

While Oregon has continued to build on the more power-oriented base Cristobal put in place, Ohio State has been on a three-year odyssey to try to get back to being a team that can rely on its offensive line and defense whether the quarterback is throwing for 400 yards or 40.

Not only did the Buckeyes lose, they did so in pretty much the least-appealing way possible to the average Ohio State fan who cut his or her teeth on Woody Hayes or Jim Tressel-style football.

That loss took some of the luster off the way Day had re-energized the passing game since his arrival in Columbus, germinating the seeds of a perception problem that still lingers.

“It was C.J.’s second start, and boy he played his tail off that game,” Day said. “We just didn’t play very good on defense and didn’t run the ball and convert on fourth downs. And so, you know, that’s how you lose games.”

Day demoted defensive play-caller Kerry Coombs that season, a move that yielded some improvement but not enough to win anything substantial.

Eventually it led to hiring Jim Knowles, a move that has yielded much improvement, but is it enough? That remains to be seen, but this Saturday will provide another big data point.

Immediately after the loss to Oregon, Day lamented the lack of balance on offense, but he reverted to similar form later in the season — most notably in a loss at Michigan —by leaning ever harder on Stroud and the passing game.

Now Chip Kelly — who ironically made his name as head coach of the go-go Ducks — is Ohio State’s offensive coordinator with the dual goal of fixing the running game and freeing Day to make game-day decisions with a clearer mind.

“I knew we had something special coming out of that game with C.J. — I just could see it — but I knew there were other areas that needed to get fixed. And we worked hard to try to get them addressed,” Day said.

This week some of the Ohio State players who were on the team in 2021 admitted still being bothered by that Oregon outcome as well.

“I can remember back to that time,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “I don’t think we were prepared —just mentally, physically. We made a lot of mistakes, and we’ve watched some film from that game, but it’s a different team now, a different everything. We have a different mindset, and we’re just ready to attack and play our game.”

Credit: Jay LaPrete

Credit: Jay LaPrete

Toughness became a major buzzword, but is it all talk?

Last season, it proved to be just that when push came to shove in Ann Arbor and the Wolverines bullied the Buckeyes enough for a third straight win in The Game.

Oregon isn’t Michigan, but the Ducks have the look of a team that could contend for the Big Ten and national titles the Wolverines won last season.

They are built from the inside out as coach Dan Lanning has taken the foundation laid by Cristobal and enhanced all aspects without sacrificing the team speed Oregon has always been known for.

Day often calls the “matchup games,” a term he took from predecessor Urban Meyer.

It is that as both teams recruit well, are built similarly and have similar styles of play.

But more than showing which team is better, the matchup could serve as a measuring stick for Ohio State’s progress in trying to be Ohio State again.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Ohio State at Oregon, 7:30 p.m., NBC, 1410