Five Things: Up 38-24 early in the fourth quarter, Ohio State couldn't hang on, falling 42-41 to Georgia in CFP semifinal despite C.J. Stroud's strong performance.
As Ryan Day promised, OSU came out swinging behind arguably C.J. Stroud's most impressive performance as a Buckeye but in the end, personnel losses, bad breaks and defensive shortcomings were too much for the signal-caller to overcome.
I get some of the criticism C.J. Stroud endured as a Buckeye but last night was another reminder that for those griping that he didn't tuck and run enough, a huge chunk of that falls on his coach. On Ohio State's last gasp after the Bulldogs went 72 yards on five plays to take a 42-41 lead, Stroud started the possession with a five-yard run before a clutch 27-yard scamper after seeing Georgia's man coverage had created a ton of room up the middle. The jaunt took Ohio State to within typical field goal range at the Georgia 31. Of course things didn't go well from there but if not for Stroud, there's no chance at a last-second field goal try.
The play saw safety Lathan Ransom get tied up in his own footwork while in man-to-man coverage with what looked like zero help over the top in another example of Knowles playing more aggressive than necessary. Those examples over the last two games are too lengthy to list here but the result was Ohio State setting a new program-record for average yards per play allowed in a single game after setting that same dubious record against Michigan, giving up 8.83 per play. Unacceptable.
While Harrison's injury was by far the most notable, Ohio State also lost tight end Cade Stover to a back issue that landed him in the hospital. Day was already without tight end Gee Scott Jr. heading into the game meaning little used tight ends Joe Royer and Sam Hart saw the field at times. Nobody was expecting Stover to be a huge threat except for apparently Chris Fowler but as Day noted, the personnel groupings were jacked without the team's top two tight ends.
The defense fell off a cliff down the stretch as already summarized and the way Day and Knowles navigated the Michigan loss with in-game strategy was tough to watch.