Ohio State Falls Flat In Cotton Bowl Loss to Missouri
Friday night's Cotton Bowl matchup vs. the Missouri Tigers in Arlington was supposed to be a rallying call for the Ohio State Buckeyes heading into the offseason, as well as an opportunity to show the rest of the country that they were as good as their No. 7 ranking advertised.
Instead, it was their worst offensive showing of the Ryan Day era, with the Buckeyes falling 14-3 at AT&T Stadium.
From the get-go, things were going to be in doubt for the Buckeyes, who lost their starting quarterback Kyle McCord to the NCAA Transfer Portal after the conclusion of the regular season and had their best player Marvin Harrison Jr. opting out of the game.
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That said, this was not the Michigan or Penn State defense that Ohio State was facing. It was a remarkably average Missouri defense that was missing its two best players Ennis Rakestraw and Ty'Ron Hopper.
And even without the two Missouri stars on the other side, Buckeyes starter Devin Brown looked lost. And when he went out, Lincoln Kienholz was even worse.
The Buckeyes' offensive line didn't help the matter, allowing four sacks, and for both quarterbacks to be battered and bruised throughout the night.
Even TreVeyon Henderson, who started the game with 50 yards on 11 carries, couldn't find an inch of space, gaining just 21 yards on his next eight carries and finishing with just 72 yards.
And the vaunted Ohio State defense? It did everything it could. But without any help from the offense, it too eventually ran out of gas and allowed Missouri to rack up 14 fourth-quarter points to put the game away.
Now with the bowl loss behind them - the Buckeyes will limp into the offseason with a boatload of questions surrounding the program.
Who will stay? Who will leave? Who can replace Marvin Harrison Jr? Who is the quarterback? How will this team compete with the Michigan Wolverines?
But, those are questions for the new year.
For now, the Buckeyes will return to Colombus, lick their wounds, and hope that they can find a way to fill some very evident holes from Friday night by the time the fall of 2024 comes around.
