Buckeyes' defeat similar to earlier baffling losses
The performance of No. 8 Ohio State on Thursday night at Penn State certainly raised plenty of questions about the Buckeyes.
In a hallway of white cinder blocks with one solid blue strip running the length of the venue, the team’s leaders in Jae’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop didn’t have many answers. Down the hallway and inside the media room in front of a Penn State backdrop, coach Chris Holtmann was in similar straits.
With four games to play and a one-game lead in the Big Ten standings, Ohio State had a chance to solidify its spot in the standings and also avenge its lone conference loss. But after taking a 4-2 lead, the Buckeyes allowed a 12-0 run to fall behind by 10 points and would never get closer than seven points while trailing by as many as 30 at one point during the second half.
Any number of questions basically boiled down to one word: why? With so much to play for and against such a foe, why didn’t the Buckeyes play better than they did — or at least with more effort?
“I really can’t tell you,” Tate said. “I thought we prepared really well in practice (these last two days). I don’t know. I think our mindset could have been better, knowing how good this team really is. Their record may not show it, but this is a tough team. We saw that before. We’ve seen them play the last couple games with the top teams in the (league).
“I don’t think that we came out with that edge. They threw the first punch and kept punching, and by the time we tried to throw it, it was too late.”
Trailing by 30, Ohio State took a little juice out of the crowd of 10,981 with an 11-0 run that would top out at 18-4 and make it a 16-point defi- cit with 10:37 left. It wasn’t too different from a 14-point deficit at Purdue last week with 10:17 to play, but there was no comeback in the off- ing this time.
But most concerning were the poor start and question- able effort from this team at this point in the season. Holt- mann was asked if his team brought the necessary effort against a team that admittedly presents clear matchup prob- lems for the Buckeyes.
“I think at times, but for the bulk of the game, it didn’t look like it,” he said. “I’ll have to look at the tape. It’s obviously hard to tell off the naked eye, but certainly wasn’t pleased with how we responded to their physicality.”
It wasn’t the only time Holtmann cited a need to look at the tape before drawing sig- nificant conclusions from the loss. That hasn’t been common for him this season, nor has having players not sure why they played the way they did.
“Got to find a way to coach and get better and play bet- ter,” Holtmann said. “We’re not immune to having tough nights against good teams, and I think everybody under- stands our margin for error is pretty small. If they don’t, they realize it now.”
The rhetoric drew significant parallels to what the Buckeyes found themselves repeating frequently during the last two seasons after suffering befuddling losses.
“I wouldn’t say (it’s) a flashback,” Tate said. “We’ve just got to learn our lesson and make sure these don’t compound and things like this don’t happen often. Giving up 45 points in the first half is pretty unacceptable. We haven’t done that ever, and we’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Holtmann, too, didn’t want to draw parallels to the last two Ohio State teams — teams he had nothing to do with.
“I think there were a multitude of errors,” he said. “Every team goes through difficult moments throughout the season. I was not pleased with the way we played, but Penn State deserves a lot of credit for that.”