You are right, it was a coaching epic fail.   OTOH, much of this was on the kids, too. 

As soon as the BTN cameras showed up at August camp, that team was doomed.  By their own admissions, many of these kids, with Meyer's tacit blessing, were more concerned about their touches and prepping for the NFL draft than they were chasing college football and Ohio State immortality.  It's why I can't dwell on the Sparty loss as much as others do.  Yes, this was among the most talented teams in OSU history -- maybe THE MOST talented. And yes, they had a good argument for the cf playoff.  But they didn't have the will and Meyer couldn't bring it out of them until it was too late after the Sparty loss.  To me, it is as clear-cut as that. 

All due respect, but you might be over-stating the impact of that game -- a game that in today's vocabulary, we would describe as a exhibition with a few projected first-rounders, sitting out.  Our team sleep walked through the entire first quarter while Clemson kicked their ass. 

I would suggest the more significant loss to Clemson was the 31-0 loss in the playoff 3 years ago.  It cemented Dabo Swinney as an elite coach whose team had beaten or kicked the asses of two Urban Meyer teams in 3 + years time.  It also erased the myth that Meyer was the most feared coach in college football when given a month to prepare for a bowl game. 

Eh......now that I have had the time to process it, this year's Clemson loss was the most crushing that I have experienced since 1969.  

It is crushing due to the fact that we could have won the game outright if not for plays we left on the field and of course, the replay officials. To your point, miami, it is one thing to get curbstomped like we did to Clemson 3 years ago -- or to Florida in the NC game.  But when you are THAT close to erasing the demons of a lifetime that Clemson has cursed us with, to have THAT kind of start in the first quarter and then lose......is really, really hard to take. I would have gladly taken our chances vs. LSU.  Not saying we would beat them, but you never know. 

As for "coming back with a vengeance", I am certain that is true.  But for us to think that our Buckeyes are the only cf team going into the off season with a chip on its shoulder would be quite naive.  

It's all about execution boys and girls. 

Here are some other teams that will be "playing angry" this year:

Alabama: deservedly shut out of the playoffs last year -- an anomaly for that team and program; Saban will not let them forget 

Clemson: First loss in 2 + years was a curbstomping; Lawrence and Etienne leave next year; won't want to leave without a natty, and I bet there is a suitcase of cash for them if they do (sorry.....I couldn't resist the snark) 

Penn State: Peaked this year, one year ahead of schedule; oh that 'hazing incident' seems to be brushed aside already; they have the talent to challenge us for the B1G; no team in America hates us like PSU does - not even TTUN

I am sure there are plenty of other teams playing with a chip on their shoulders.  These are 3 that come to mind that will play at our level in 2020

That's fine.  The Rose is the one bowl that outperforms all the others in terms of attendance (live and TV) the "worthiness" of the teams, and everything about it.  It's fair to say it is the one outlier that has stood the test of time. 

Much needed win tonight to state the obvious. 

As for the "manageable stretch".........eh.......it's probably safe to assume that teams are thinking of us with that same description when they see the Buckeyes as a game they are about to play.  

To be fair, it is the luck of the draw, but Clemson even benefits from its conference schedule.  Two of the (expected) most improved teams in the ACC......UNC and Miami, are not on the schedule, making it even easier for them.  Clemson, by all appearances, truly has a one-game schedule at Notre Dame on November 7th.  That is it.  

True.  But Mario Cristobal is a much different coach than Chip Kelly and emphasizes much differently -- namely O and D lines.  While I don't see them ever totally dominating the PAC 12, I would give this program, now, much more respect than I did in the past. 

Thanks - this was a fun watch.   We all tend to throw the word "freak" around quite a bit.   But......while all of these guys' seasons were great, Malik Hooker was.....a damn freak!

Amen, brother!   And.......SamB's.  The OLD Sam Bs.   

While you are right, it was still a catchable ball.   Let's not go there.........it's been a good week. 

Maybe.  But this proud Falcon Alum hopes there are no injuries and that we show better than 3 years ago when it was 77-10.  

Agree.  With the exception of the Rose Bowl alliance between the B1G and the PAC 12, (and maybe it needs to be dissolved too) the other bowl "tie-ins" need to be scrapped.  By hanging on the ACC vs. ??, the SEC vs. B1G, and the other old, tired alliances, the Bowls are sowing the seeds of their own demise.  One day, before it is too late, they need to wake up and realize this. 

Welcome back, Coach Coombs!!

As for expanding the college playoff lineup, just say no.  More often than not, since the playoff format began, one out of the 4 teams in it, proved they did not belong.  Whether it was Florida State, Michigan State, our Buckeyes, Notre Dame, or now, Oklahoma, the race for the crystal boiled down to three teams -- not 8.  Yes, perhaps UCF was screwed a few years ago, and we were screwed in 2015.  But it is what it is, and if the big bowls are chafing at losing attendance, I am not convinced creating more blowouts with people leaving before the end of the game or turning off their TVs is solving anything.  As for ticket prices, I heard a good source say that tix for the Baylor - UGA game were going for $ 10 before kick-off --- and that was in New Orleans, and predicted to be the most competitive game outside the final 4.  Go figure. 

Interesting points, sauce.   

So you're saying..... the teams with Aaron Craft were good, if not elite teams not BECAUSE of Craft, but in spite of him?  I have to disagree.  Yes, those teams would have been better if Craft had not regressed as a shooter, but they had strengths and limitations far beyond him as a single player. Not saying Craft was as good as Conley by any means.  But the teams with Craft and Sully were far and away the best OSU teams since Conley and the "Thad 5" took their talents to the NBA or Europe.  Craft made his teammates better -- if they wanted to be better. 

Fair point.  But it was still a catchable ball.  

We didn't need to light up Clemson's secondary.  We just needed to make the plays in the first half that would've led to TDs instead of FGs.   The drops by JK in the endzone and his screen pass.   And KJ Hill's drop (yes, it was a drop) in the end zone from a perfectly thrown ball.  That converts to 15 points.  If we make those 3 plays, we can play Tresselball in the second half and put the game away.  

But we didn't and......that's it......

Yeah, it was Clemson, but you go ahead and enjoy your alternate reality.    If we make the plays that Clemson made against us, we win the game no matter who was on the take in New York City or Las Vegas that night.  But hey, believe what makes you feel better. 

Agree with you! 

But.........there's another reason why we lost that night to Wisky:  In response to the beatdowns at the hands of speedier teams like Florida, LSU and USC, Tress built his team for speed, especially at the LB position.  That's why a smurf like B Rolle played MLB.  What Tress did not account for was an old school power I team like WI and a monster like John Clay who repeatedly trucked anyone in his path.  We weren't built to stop WI -- but we would have stopped Cam Newton had it come to that.  

But yes, the 2010 team was special, and likely would have contended for a natty in 2011 - thereby silencing Tress's critics who believed then as they do now, that much of the game, especially on Offense, had passed him by.  That 2010 team was a juggernaut and put some of that bull shit about Tress to bed.  

tad premature

Agree.  And I would replace "tad" with extremely.  Not saying it won't be justified years down the road, but it isn't as of now.

For all his quirks, Meyer is still a HOF coach.   Let's give Day another 2 or 3 years with his recruits before justifying more superlatives.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I would never rank a team that lost in the cf playoff -- no matter how corrupt that loss was, higher than a team that won it all and did so by beating TTUN, demolished a really good WI team to win the B1G, exorcised decades long demons to beat Bama, and then won the natty.  The last two months of the 2014 was some of the best football any OSU team has played in history -- with the possible exception of the 1968 Super Sophs.

Since I don't live in Ohio, I have to ask........when reading about (except for the kid from Cinci) the elite RBs we are have targeted, what has happened to the elite RBs from Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Steubenville?  You mean there aren't any Beanie Wells-types who are home grown and dream of playing for the Buckeyes?  WTF has happened? 

Nobody said Holtmann couldn't coach when we boat raced KY, UNC, and Villanova earlier this year -- not to mention Penn State.  Never have seen a team in any sport free fall like this.  

To your point:  Young has improved -- dramatically.  No, he isn't Jon Diebler, but he has improved.   K Wesson has transformed himself physically but it hasn't make him better offensively -- at least not noticeably.  On the positive, he hasn't been as much of a foul magnet.  Luther has arguably regressed.  A Wesson has stayed the same.  

Starting to wonder about that too, Jackson.  

Has this team hit rock bottom yet?  Asking for a friend.