The Ohio State Buckeyes would’ve been hoping for a much better showing than what they put together Saturday night at USC.
Backup QB Luke Fahey wasn’t awful standing in for injured starter Julian Sayin, but it took a long time for OSU’s offense to get going, and USC pulled off the upset, 30-18.
The Buckeyes stuck with Fahey the whole night, seemingly not considering a move to the other healthy quarterback, Tavien St. Clair, the former five-star recruit. That suggests Ohio State will stick with Fahey going forward for as long as Sayin is out — an absence that has been referred to as “indefinitely” by head coach Ryan Day.
And so now the question that was hovering over the two weeks of prep for the USC game becomes louder: What does this all mean for the College Football Playoff? Can Ohio State get in with Fahey at quarterback?
There’s a lot of football left, but we can start to break it down a bit after Saturday’s results.
What Ohio State Loss Means For College Football Playoff
Ohio State’s loss on Saturday dropped the Buckeyes to 6-2 on the season.
They have lost to Texas, which has a decent chance to end the season as a top-10 team, and to USC, which could move back into the top-25 at some point but was out of the rankings when it beat the Buckeyes.
They have wins over Ball State, Kent State, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland and Indiana.
The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers are likely to be the two-best wins out of that bunch, and it would help Ohio State if Iowa can maintain its recent momentum and end up as a ranked team.
Ohio State still has to host Oregon, Northwestern and Michigan and also go to Nebraska.
Given the status of other powerhouses around college football, Ohio State would almost assuredly be in the CFP with two losses. If the Buckeyes win out, there shouldn’t be any problems.
The problem comes if Ohio State loses again, which seems like a real possibility with Fahey at quarterback. Would the committee put in a three-loss Buckeyes team that was working with a backup QB? That seems less likely.
Ohio State has less of a chance at another top-25 win the rest of the way, too, but one of Oregon or Northwestern could be ranked at some point — the unranked Ducks beat the ranked Wildcats on Saturday.
There’s definitely reason for Buckeyes fans to be nervous. They’re a lot closer to missing the CFP than they were before Saturday.
Julian Sayin Injury
The unknown here is Sayin’s injury to his throwing arm.
If he was able to come back at some point, that obviously improves Ohio State’s chances of winning games. But if he misses a few more weeks, it could end up being too late.
That’s also why the Buckeyes might have to consider one more QB change, maybe at halftime of their next game if things are rough. They have very little margin for error.
What Ohio State Loss Means For Playoff Picture After Sayin Injury