Carnell Tate reveals why Ohio State's offense struggled vs. Indiana

The last time the Ohio State Buckeyes played football, they suffered their first loss of the season after the offense put together their most disappointing outing of the season in a 13-10 Big 10 Championship battle against Indiana.

Now as the Buckeyes prepare for their college football playoff matchup against the Miami Hurricanes, they’ll be looking to get the offense back on track.

In preparation for the Cotton Bowl, standout wide receiver Carnell Tate met with the media, where he was asked what went wrong with the Buckeyes offense in the conference championship.

“It’s literally the same exact thing as last year. I mean, the problem is always there. You just hate to see the loss to show the problem, reveal the problem,” Tate said. “We was able to cover up the problem with wins. Unfortunately the loss happened and we realized the bigger problem.”

Carnell Tate says the loss to Indiana exposed offensive issues that were already there. pic.twitter.com/c6OWw2bZXP
— Caroline Rice (@carolinerice19) December 29, 2025

Last year, the Buckeyes experienced the same issue in their 13-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines. The offense never got going, and it cost their chance at a conference title. Luckily, the team (and the offense) bounced back in the playoffs to win a National Championship.

Tate never revealed what he believed the biggest problem to be, rather keeping it private as a team matter.

Tate did joke about what he learned from the Buckeye’s loss to Indiana.

“We just figured out we gotta go score more than 10 points to go win the game,” Tate said.

Heading into the Indiana game, both Tate and fellow star wideout Jeremiah Smith, had been dealing with injuries that limited their production. Tate said he was able to get back to 100% in the Buckeyes’ time off.

Tate did catch Ohio State’s only touchdown of the game, a nine-yard pass from Julian Sayin in the first quarter. Tate finished the day with just 45 yards.

Outside of the first quarter, the Buckeyes offense could do little all day long. They kicked one field goal in the second quarter, and were shutout in the fourth quarter. They did get into field goal range, but Jayden Fielding missed a chance to tie the game.

The team rushed for just 58 yards on 2.2 yards per carry, and threw for 264. In the biggest game of the season, the offense just wasn’t up to the high standards set in the past.

A slow game like that against the Hurricanes would be the easiest way for Miami to pull off a major upset this year. With a pass rushing duo like Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, the Buckeyes will have plenty to overcome.

Hopefully Tate can be the spark Ohio State needs if they want to repeat as National Champions. The offense, which will have a new play caller, will be relying on everyone to keep the offense moving, and try to fix whatever “problem” has been persisting.