5 things we think we learned from Ohio State football's loss to USC

Heading into the game against USC, even on the road, the thought was that freshman Luke Fahey would have enough playmakers around him to make the loss of Julian Sayin not as bad as everyone thought. After 60 minutes in the rain out in SoCal, it seems that was way too optimistic.Ohio State looked totally inept across the board and lost to the Trojans 30-18, and now will have to go back to the drawing board to see what it can learn from what we all witnessed on Saturday night. The Buckeyes now fall into second place in the Big Ten, and their chances of making the College Football Playoff now have a razor-thin margin because of the loss to Texas earlier in the season. We like to look back on each Ohio State game and see if there are some things we can take away as observations or lessons learned, and it's a sad tale on this Halloween night. Here are five things we think we learned after the loss to USC.There were way too many mistakes for Ohio StateOhio State is in danger of having more penalties than points scored in this game— Land-Grant Holy Land (@Landgrant33) November 1, 2026One thing you have to have when breaking in a new quarterback is a clean game. That's far from what we saw on Saturday night in enemy territory. There were double-digit penalties, some in crucial situations, misfires on open receivers, dropped passes, turnovers, and some very curious coaching decisions.Fahey didn't help himself by not throwing the ball very accurately and mismanaging some situations, but his team didn't do much to help him, and he was already being asked to do some things that a true freshman probably shouldn't have to do. Fahey will learn from this Tough loss for Ohio State, 30-18. Ohio State needed everyone to step up and support Luke Fahey and it did everything but that for 60 minutes. pic.twitter.com/AoAEMIUw0x— Caroline Rice (@carolinerice19) November 1, 2026Yeah, it wasn't the best showing for the freshman, but let's realize that it was his first start on the road, against a very athletic team. If he's already done enough to pass Tavien St. Clair, then there are skills and ability there. In fact, we saw some flashes of a bit of poise and command of the offense, just not on a consistent basis.Coaches and players inside the building praise Fahey's moxie and competitiveness, so you have to think he's going to figure it out the more time he gets. The problem is that there's not a lot of time left before some pretty big goals go by the wayside.The Ohio State coaches have to find Jeremiah Smith when the chips are downJeremiah Smith is all of us. pic.twitter.com/nzh8DhN7iZ— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 1, 2026You have a freshman quarterback, the offense is mired in trying to find an identity, and the defense isn't having its best game. Yet, somehow, someway, the nuclear weapon you have at your disposal isn't a bigger part of the effort to reel things back in. His name is Jeremiah Smith, and he is good at performing athletic feats on the football field.Smith finished the game with ten catches for 83 yards and one touchdown, and not nearly enough targets. At some point, even if the Heisman frontrunner looks covered, you have to give him his chances and at-bats because there's a good chance he can bail the offense out of some bad spots.Red zone woes continue for Ohio StateOhio State easily picked up the first down with Luke Fahey running the QB sneak with ease.Why not run it again? Instead, absolute coaching malpractice in the red zone.— Lyle Alenstein (@LAlenstein) November 1, 2026At some point, the coaching staff has to take a hard, hard look at the issues with scoring in the red zone. It's unfathomable that a team that's this talented can't finish off drives. The Buckeyes kicked four field goals in this game and only scored one touchdown despite being in the red zone four times. Ohio State outgained USC despite all of the miscues and still could have won the game if it could have finished off a couple of those drives. Heck, the Buckeyes had the ball inside the one-yard line on a first-and-goal situation, and instead of running a basic quarterback sneak to just score, things got too cute. If OSU can't get it fixed, then this team won't make it very far.No room for error for the College Football PlayoffThere goes that margin of error for a team very much in need of a margin for errorCollege Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday and I have no idea what they’re gonna do with Ohio Statehttps://t.co/4sBPtQSBWz— Stephen Means (@Stephen_Means) November 1, 2026With only one loss in the Big Ten, Ohio State still controls its own destiny when it comes to making the Big Ten Championship game, and that means it also holds its own destiny when it comes to making the College Football Playoff. However, one more loss could kill both of those goals.Before we even think about that, though, there are some major issues on the offensive side of the ball that have to get figured out, pronto. Fahey is not ready, and the team can only go as far as the quarterback takes it. You have to wonder if St. Clair will now get an opportunity, but either way, things are very much up in the air now, and there are a lot more questions than answers right now.Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 5 things we think we learned from Ohio State football's loss to USC