The Ohio State Buckeyes came out extremely flat in the Cotton Bowl against the Missouri Tigers on Friday night, falling in a 14-3 loss.
After the game, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day didn’t mince words, promising changes will be made heading into the 2024 season.
Ohio State came into the game missing many key starters, including star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr, starting linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, and starting safety Lathan Ransom. They were also without an experienced quarterback at the helm after Kyle McCord’s decision to transfer to Syracuse.
Despite this, they came into the game favored to win over Missouri, but failed to play up to expectations. Their offense only put up 203 total yards, their lowest this season.
Day vowed after the game that “everything will be looked at” this offseason as they look to rebound from this disappointing end to the year.
“Just fresh off the game, so it’s hard for me to process all of it right now. We’ve got to figure out what’s best for the team moving forward, and that’s in a lot of areas,” Day said in the postgame press conference shared by Eleven Warriors on YouTube. “We’ve got to take a hard look at that and get that figured out, but everything will be looked at.”
Most Ohio State fans at least hoped that this game would provide some clarity about the team’s future at the quarterback position. Both Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz could be looked at as the potential starting quarterback for the team next season.
Instead, this game left the program with far more questions than answers. And Day clearly has a ton of work on his hands to make his team a contender once again in 2024.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.