Ryan Day Has No Excuse Left for Ohio State’s Offensive Meltdown

Ryan Day stood at the podium after Ohio State's 30-18 loss to USC and did something college football coaches rarely do.

He didn't blame the injuries.

He didn't blame the freshman quarterback.

He didn't blame the schedule.

He said the Buckeyes have enough talent to win these games.

And then he listed the reasons they didn't.

THE NUMBERS THAT MAKE THE LOSS HARD TO EXPLAIN

Ohio State outgained USC 464 yards to 338.

That is a 126-yard advantage.

The Buckeyes held the ball for 39 minutes and 28 seconds.

USC had it for 20 minutes and 32 seconds.

Ohio State ran 76 offensive plays. USC ran 49.

And Ohio State lost by 12 points.

Those numbers do not happen by accident.

They happen when a team beats itself.

WHAT RYAN DAY SAID

"I think it does hurt missing some guys, but I think at the end of the day, we feel like we have enough here to win these games," Day said, according to Sports Illustrated.

That is the key sentence.

Day acknowledged that the roster is good enough.

The excuse of missing players only goes so far.

He was even blunter about what went wrong.

"Like we said going into it, we all gotta help this guy out, and I don't think we did," Day said, referring to freshman quarterback Luke Fahey.

THE FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK STARTED FOR THE FIRST TIME

Julian Sayin is out with an elbow injury suffered in the Week 7 win over Indiana.

Day confirmed Sayin will miss the Oregon game.

He said the recovery will take time.

"It's not going to be next week, or next month — it's going to take some time here, but I think certainly for the long term, we feel like we're on a good track here," Day said Thursday, via Eleven Warriors.

So Luke Fahey got his first career start against USC.

Fahey completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown.

Those numbers are respectable for a freshman making his first start on the road.

But Day said the team did not support him well enough.

Day also acknowledged that the coaching staff needs to do a better job putting Fahey in a position to succeed.

THE MISTAKES WERE FUNDAMENTAL

Running back Isaiah West did not mince words after the game.

"There's no reason we should be jumping offsides. There's no reason we should have 12 people on the field. There's no reason we should be holding. Like, this is day one fundamental stuff," West said.

Those are the words of a player who knows the talent is there and knows the execution is not.

The red zone was a particular problem.

Ohio State moved the ball between the 20s but could not finish drives.

Penalties and dropped passes killed momentum.

A costly turnover made it worse.

This is not a new problem.

Ohio State has struggled with self-inflicted mistakes in multiple games this season.

The difference now is that the margin for error is gone.

WHAT COMES NEXT

Day confirmed that Fahey will remain the starting quarterback against Oregon.

Oregon brings a pass rush that could cause serious problems for a freshman making his second start.