Even though it's now 2020, you're probably still thinking about the way 2019 ended if you're an Ohio State football fan.
We mentioned that you'd either be really, really happy or really, really disappointed at the end of last week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, and the latter is now true for Buckeyes fans. After a spectacular first 13 games of the season in which Ohio State won every game by double digits, the season came to a heartbreaking end for the Buckeyes as they suffered a 29-23 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.
Missed opportunities and questionable calls cost Ohio State in its bid to defeat Clemson for the first time ever and earn a berth in the national championship game, and we discuss all of those on this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.
As devastating as the loss to the Tigers was, there remains plenty to be celebrated from Ohio State's 2019 season – which admittedly surpassed our expectations – as Ryan Day excelled in his first season as head coach, Justin Fields excelled in his first season as the Buckeyes' quarterback and just about every question from the preseason was answered in a positive way. So we take a look at why the Buckeyes' 13-1 season is still one that should be considered a great success despite its disappointing finish, and hand out some superlatives to our team MVP, most improved and underappreciated players, and more.
Finally, we answer a handful of your reader questions, including how the Buckeyes will replace J.K. Dobbins in next year's backfield and what Jaelen Gill's role could be in Ohio State's 2020 offense.
Listen to Real Pod Wednesdays in the audio player above or on your audio streaming platform of choice (iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn), and tune in again next week as we start to look ahead to what the 2020 Ohio State football team could look like.
