This week was a disenchanting return to normalcy for Ohio State men's lacrosse, as they were not really competitive all afternoon. It was a gradual building of Penn State's lead, though it wasn't helped by the fact that Ohio State ran out of gas in Q4 again.

The Buckeyes were outclassed everywhere. Skylar Wahlund was really bad today. The defense stunk. The offense got absolutely smothered. Faceoff was below 50% again. Etc. Etc.

Ohio State did get a much better percentage of their shots on goal. But they were poor finishing. The offense never really got going, despite decent shooting days from Kyle Borda and Jack Myers. Colby Smith didn't add any points, going 0-2 shooting, while Ed Shean again saw his shots get eaten by Smith. That's not going to win this team games. Ed Shean is a transformative player, and deserves more touches.

Defensively, I have no idea what's going on. Travis Crane has improved recruiting significantly since taking on that coordinator role, but his defenses have been awful. That "sled dog" unit has been absolutely atrocious for years. Anyone with a pulse abuses those middies. Like Mac Costin did.

At the faceoff dot, Matt Fritz was almost 50%. But as I said in the preview, almost 50% would see Ohio State sliced to bits. And sure enough, that was true.

An underrated point is that Ohio State throws the ball away far too much for a Big Ten team. They're at or above 20 turnovers every game they lose, and most of the games they win there are at least 14. It's getting ridiculous.

With this loss, unless a miracle occurs, Ohio State is not going dancing. Again. And that makes just one appearance in the 5 eligible seasons since 2017. Where they lost in the first round. I have been skeptical of this staff since 2019. I don't know if anything will possibly happen to see significant change. But it's obvious some is needed.

Up next is Maryland.

Go Bucks.