Ohio State legend blames kicking woes for Buckeyes struggles in big games

The 2025 season ended in disappointment for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

When everyone needed to show up on the grandest stage of them all, things went south quickly.

On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the No. 2-seeded Buckeyes battled against No. 10-seeded Miami Hurricanes, falling in unexpected fashion, 24-14. The loss stunned the many Buckeye faithful who didn't expect their team to struggle the way they did, turning over the football, allowing pressure in the backfield and showcasing an inability to control the game.

However, the kicking struiggles also played a role, an issue thats been prevalent for years.

The game of football is centered around momentum, and just before the halftime break, the Buckeyes desperately needed it. Down 14-0, kicker Jayden Fielding was put in position to knock through a 49-yard kick and put three points on the board. But, as fate would have it, Fielding missed yet another crucial kick.

Not only would that kick of giving the Buckeyes a spark coming out of the break, but later on when the game was 17-14, it could've been 17-17.

"You got it to 17-14. I promise you this: the Miami fans and Miami team are feeling a little anxiety," former Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter said. "They're worried. Should it probably be 17-all? Maybe."

"This has plagued Ohio State going back to the Peach Bowl in 2022, the inability to make clutch kicks."

-@Bcarp3 on how big it could've been to be at 17-17 instead of 17-14

"The Miami fans and the Miami team were feeling anxiety." pic.twitter.com/RlD2A4SmpG
— Bobby Carpenter Show (@BobbyCarpShow) January 1, 2026

If the game had been level there, after a second-half surge, the final quarter of play could have gone drastically differently than the way it ended up.

Just a few weeks ago in the Big Ten title game, Fielding also missed what would have been the game-tying field goal from just 27 yards out. The Buckeyes went on to lose that game, 13-10, and practically handed the Hoosiers the title.

Carpenter, a legendary Ohio State figure, expressed his frustrations further with the Buckeyes' kicking struggles on the Bobby Carpenter Show via the BIGPLAY Sports Network.

"This has plagued Ohio State going back to the Peach Bowl in 2022, the inability to make clutch kicks," Carpenter said.

The moment Carpenter is referring to came in the Peach Bowl, where the Buckeyes had marched down the field and were down just one point. Right as the ball dropped, kicker Noah Ruggles shanked a kick wide left to leave the scoreline at 42-41 in favor of Georgia.

It seems that no matter the season, no matter the kicker, Ohio State cannot get a reliable leg in the building. Since that miss back at the tail end of the 2022 campaign, kickers sporting the scarlet and grey have missed 12 field goals on 57 attempts, good enough for a 78.9% field goal conversion rate.

Simply put, there's gotta be a change.

Ohio State's season concludes at a mark of 11-2, with the team's only two losses coming by three points and 10 points.

While players certainly will end up in the transfer portal over the coming days, the coaching staff will more than likely be very active as well in hopes of retooling for the 2026 campaign.

And hopefully, somewhere in that pool of new additions, is a kicker that can be reliable.