Social Reactions: The Bucks Got the Breaks and Still Lost to the Ducks, Which Adds Up to Some Big Questions

By Johnny Ginter on October 13, 2024 at 7:40 am
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard
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Everyone and their mother and their mother's best friend's dog had the Oregon game circled as a potential loss from the beginning of the season. Dan Lanning has them playing at a super high level, it was going to be on the road in a tough environment, and the Oregon offense seemed uniquely well-suited to attack the Ohio State defense.

And yet! This loss still feels pretty terrible, and I think it's because there were so many points in the game against the Ducks on Saturday where a different outcome would've directly led to an Ohio State win. Some of them were stupid and pure chance (a ridiculous onside kick conversion, a terrible offensive pass interference call), but the truth is that unlike in a lot of high profile Ohio State losses, the Buckeyes did get some breaks.

All they needed to do was to come through at any number of critical points in the game... and they didn't. That's going to sting, because this is a team built to win those moments. That they missed on key third downs, made mental errors at critical points, and couldn't convert when given an advantage is more worrisome than losing a single game: it throws the whole narrative of the season out of whack.

In two weeks they'll have the opportunity to right the ship in the near future, but it's going to take another top-five win to wash away the stink of this particular loss.

THE BUCKEYES

OKAY, BUT WHAT IF I WANT TO DO THAT?

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Next week is... nothing! Which I haven't decided is good or bad, except that I'm desperately hoping that Michigan gets rolled flat by Illinois.

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