Ryan Day Lets Off the Gas, Kicker Misses, and the Buckeyes are Left with a Loss

The Ohio State Buckeyes' loss to the Texas Longhorns feels equal parts surprising and equal parts par for the course.

Ohio State carried a 23-3 lead into the fourth quarter before squandering it all and losing to the Texas Longhorns by a final score of 24-23. Hours after the game, many are left with the same thought: how the heck did that choke happen?

It is very simple, Ohio State started playing not to lose instead of playing to win the football game. 

In the first half, the Buckeyes were assertive; they were aggressive, and they took the fight directly to the Longhorns. In the second half, they were as passive as they could have been.

Jeremiah Smith did not touch the football for the final 23 minutes of the football game, and the result was three punts, a missed field goal, and an interception that sent the Buckeyes packing.

The cherry on top of the Buckeyes' collapse was the missed field goal that came midway through the fourth quarter. Ohio State worked themselves into field goal range, staring at a 46-yard attempt. For a normal kicker, that is very makeable. For the Buckeyes, it is a major problem. 

Their new kicker, Connor Hawkins, is known for having a monster leg but with very minimal accuracy in the midrange. Buckeye fans were ecstatic when he transferred to Ohio State, but on Saturday night he showed his true colors. He yanked the kick left, and everyone watching the game knew what was about to happen.

It is just very easy to know exactly the moment that the Buckeyes started getting conservative and when their comeback started to mount. Texas, to their credit, chipped away and chipped away until they had a first and goal inside the five-yard line. 

It all happened in the final stanza, and it could have been avoided. One completed pass here, one conversion there, or one made kick, and the Buckeyes are singing a different story right now.

Instead, the narrative stays the same. Like Georgia, Michigan, and Clemson, Day got conservative and started coaching to not lose. Once you take that approach, you lose.

Day learned this lesson yet again, and now the Buckeyes' backs are against the wall for the remainder of the season.

Ohio State falls to Texas by a final score of 24-23 and the Buckeyes head home for a date with the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday.