The aftermath of the Big Ten Championship Game hit Ohio State head coach Ryan Day hard. While he seeks to learn from the loss, two star players, Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, lost out on postseason honors. For former Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer, the defeat exposed a deeper issue.

“If you’re coaching a locker room of grown a– men, I mean, like, older, mature guys, and that’s what they had last year,” Urban Meyer said on the Triple Option Show. “That was the most mature group. The Wolverines did it two years ago with a mature team. The Buckeyes did it last year. This is the first time they’ve been hit in the face. This is the first time. They’ve got a young quarterback, and he did not play exceptional that day. Their offensive line struggled against Indiana.”

“They’re going to either have Miami or A&M. But again, at this point, if it’s a mature locker room that goes to work and plays to their potential, there’s a great chance they can win this thing out. If it’s a younger team, they won’t.”

The Buckeyes fielded a relatively young roster this season after losing much of their veterans to the pros. But that didn’t affect their on-field performance during the regular season. In fact, Matt Patricia’s defense has been hailed as a better unit than their 2024 counterparts.

What has been going well for the young team is that they haven’t had to play close games. The only game that went down to the wire before the B1G Championship matchup was their opener against Texas.

Coming back to the Indiana loss, quarterback Julian Sayin failed to replicate his season-long form, losing the head-to-head battle with Fernando Mendoza. That performance ultimately tilted the Heisman Trophy race in Mendoza’s favor. While the award won’t come to Columbus, Ryan Day still has a chance to finish the season on a high note.

The loss to Indiana revealed two key truths. First, Ohio State is not invincible. Despite boasting one of the nation’s best defenses and a dangerous offense led by Sayin, running back Bo Jackson, and wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, the Buckeyes struggled to find answers against the Hoosiers. Indiana’s defense repeatedly got to Sayin, sacking him five times.

Even more astonishing were Ohio State’s struggles in the red zone. It shouldn’t even have come to the point where that failed field goal attempt ended up being the dagger to their loss. The Buckeyes had multiple chances to take the lead, but they just couldn’t deliver on the day. Was it conservative play-calling? Maybe. Some fringe fans even argued that the head coach might have saved some plays for the playoffs.

While the ultimate goal remains unchanged, the loss against Indiana could serve as the reality check Ohio State needed before mounting a serious push for back-to-back national championships.

Can Ryan Day and Ohio State bounce back in the CFP?

The Hoosiers stunned the college football world by defeating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. In the post-game press conference, Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day offered a blunt response to the loss.

“We’re going to respond like men,” Day said. “We lost. We were not at our best. Everybody, including myself, the coaches, everybody. You’ve got to address the problems and get them fixed.”

Day’s comments suggest the coaching staff understands where things went wrong and plans to correct those issues before the College Football Playoff. One positive for Ohio State is that the Buckeyes earned a quarterfinal berth, giving them valuable time to rest and prepare. They will face the winner of the Miami-Texas A&M matchup.