Ohio State suffers second loss before November for first time in over 10 years
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The 2026 Ohio State team has accomplished something no other Buckeyes squad has managed to in well over 10 years.
However, that achievement is far from the variety that would earn head coach Ryan Day much praise, as his current team has dropped 2 games before November for the first time since 2011, the last year before Urban Meyer took the helm.
As a result, the Ohio State faithful are widely displeased, and Day is largely bearing the brunt of it. The 8th-year head coach has enjoyed plenty of success in Columbus, but Buckeyes fans demand excellence at every turn, and their team fell short of that when losing 30-18 at the hands of USC on Saturday.
With Ohio State coming off a bye week and having extra time to prepare for life without quarterback Julian Sayin, the offense struggled mightily in Los Angeles, and the unit will have plenty of questions to answer down the stretch.
It’s very possible that this November slate of games could present a third trip-up for Day & Co., as home dates with a still-talented Oregon squad, a surprising Northwestern team and the annual date with Michigan surround a tricky road test in Nebraska.
Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
