In honor of Alabama's embarrassing loss to unranked 5-5 Oklahoma last night - and, most embarrassingly, Alabama only mustering THREE points as a ranked team against an unranked .500 team - I took some time today to research the most recent times that Ohio State football has (1) scored 3 or fewer points in a game, (2) scored 3 or fewer points against an unranked opponent, and (3) scored 3 or fewer points as a RANKED team against an unranked opponent with a .500 record or worse.

Here are the most recent instances of Ohio State football scored 3 points or fewer in a game:

• 12/30/2023 vs #9 Missouri (Cotton Bowl) - Lost 14-3 to Missouri in a game with significant mitigating factors, primarily half the roster sitting out for the NFL draft or already in the transfer portal and playing a bunch of 2nd stringers against a top 10 team.
• 1/1/2017 vs #2 Clemson (Fiesta Bowl, CFP Semifinal) - Lost 31-0, got our doors blown off by DeShaun Watson.
• 9/13/2008 vs #1 USC (regular season) - Lost 35-3 at home to #1 ranked USC. Todd Boeckman at QB, enough said.

All of those were losses to top 10 teams. What about the most recent game where OSU scored 3 or fewer points against an UNRANKED team?

For that, we have to go back to 1993 and John Cooper. In 1993, #5 ranked 8-0-1 Ohio State traveled to Ann Arbor to play unranked 6-4 Michigan and walked away 28-0 losers.

That 1993 Michigan team was above .500, though. What about the most recent game where OSU scored 3 points or fewer against an unranked team that was only .500 (or worse) at the time?

On October 6, 1982 - 2 months before I was born - unranked Ohio State lost at home to unranked 2-2 Wisconsin by a score of 6-0.

But Ohio State wasn't ranked then either! So, finally, what's the most recent game where (1) OSU scored 3 points or fewer AS A RANKED TEAM (2) against an unranked team (3) that was only .500 or worse on the season?

On November 7, 1964, less than 1 year after President Kennedy was assassinated, #2 ranked Ohio State lost 27-0 to an unranked 3-4 Penn State team.

That's how bad that Alabama loss was.