Ohio State did not need its true freshman QB to be a superhero against USC. It needed the rest of the team to make his first start a little less complicated. That wasn’t happening in the opening half. With Julian Sayin sidelined by injury, Luke Fahey was handed the keys to the Buckeyes’ offense against the Trojans. Naturally, there were going to be some rough edges. But the problems ran much deeper than the QB position.

Jay Richardson, who played at Ohio State before spending six seasons in the NFL, shared his assessment while watching the Buckeyes struggle against USC. In his opinion, the blame isn’t on Luke Fahey. 

“I’m shocked to say, after a half of football, Luke Fahey isn’t the issue,” he posted on X. “He’s actually playing solid, all things considered. It’s the defense looking lost, the Special Teams continuing to be the worst in the B10, and the damn penalties that seem to be the theme of every OSU game.” 

There wasn’t much reason to expect Luke Fahey to immediately look like a seasoned starter. He entered the game with just 13 career passing attempts, and this was his first opportunity to run the offense from the opening kickoff. His opening half was hardly spectacular. 

Luke Fahey completed 8 of 15 passes for 87 yards and added two rushing yards. Ohio State moved the ball reasonably well at times but repeatedly ran into trouble once it reached scoring territory. The Buckeyes visited the red zone twice and came away with field goals on both occasions. But the QB wasn’t the one allowing USC to gain yards.

USC needed barely any time to expose Ohio State’s defensive problems. Just 39 seconds into the game, the Trojans caught the secondary out of position on a screen pass. WR Trent Mosley took advantage, broke through the initial coverage and raced 69 yards for the opening touchdown. Poor tackling and a missed angle turned a routine offensive call into an early nightmare for the Buckeyes.

The trouble continued. Ohio State struggled to generate consistent pressure on Jayden Maiava, giving the USC QB enough time to work through the secondary. The Trojans also benefited from special teams mistakes, including a poorly covered kickoff return and a late hit out of bounds that handed them favorable field position.

RB Waymond Jordan eventually turned that opportunity into a nine-yard touchdown. There were moments when the USC defense managed to limit the damage, including three important red-zone stops that forced Ohio State to settle for field goals. Still, those stops couldn’t erase the Buckeyes’ problems elsewhere.

Penalties also made an already difficult afternoon worse. By halftime, Ohio State had committed six penalties for 49 yards, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. A false start on fourth-and-four forced Ohio State to punt. 

Another pushed the offense from third-and-four to third-and-nine. Then, just as the Buckeyes got close to the goal line, another false start sent them backward. Luke Fahey already had enough to deal with in his first start. His teammates weren’t making things any easier.

Ohio State had 192 yards by halftime but still trailed 20-9. The offense kept reaching scoring range without finding the end zone. Luke Fahey had his share of mistakes, but Jay Richardson wasn’t about to pin the mess on a freshman making his first start. Ohio State had bigger problems, and most of them had nothing to do with the QB.

“We needed this medicine,” he added in a follow-up post. “It’s easy to excuse all the BS (penalties and lack of discipline) when you’re winning. Getting your asses kicked forces change…Change is coming.”

Ryan Day’s team has enough talent to compete with anybody. The problem is that defensive breakdowns, special teams struggles, and undisciplined football keep making life harder than it needs to be. And against a team like USC, those mistakes can quickly become the difference between a comeback opportunity and a long afternoon.