Everything up for evaluation after Ohio State’s 2nd loss
Derek Johnson has been covering high school sports in the Mahoning Valley for the last eight years and is a proud graduate of Youngstown State University. His deep knowledge of local teams and players allows him to write with authenticity and passion, bringing the thrill of the game to life.
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COLUMBUS — With two losses, Ohio State football has matched its high for a single season during the eight seasons of the Ryan Day era. That doesn’t even tell the whole story. While Day has been the head coach of the Buckeyes since 2019, the streak of seasons with two losses or less actually goes back to 2011, when the team was decimated by NCAA suspension and Luke Fickell was keeping the head coaching seat warm for one season between College Football Hall of Famers Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. After going 6-7, Fickell returned to being defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes under Meyer, and the winning resumed, too. Meyer never lost more than two in his seven seasons at the helm, and Tressel did so only three times in 10, including his first season, 2001. Not only are double-loss seasons rare in Columbus, two coming in the regular season is more unusual: This is the fourth time in the last 15 seasons and only the 10th in the last 25. Losing two before Nov. 1 is even more uncommon, havi