Following Ohio State’s heartbreaking 24-23 loss to Texas on Saturday, Sept. 12, the Buckeyes fell from No. 1 to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll.
To one of the most prominent voices in college football — and a former Ohio State quarterback, to boot — it was too steep of a drop.
On his podcast on Monday, Sept. 14, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit ripped AP voters for dropping the Buckeyes as far as they did, noting that — while the loss was demoralizing — a road defeat against a top-five opponent didn’t merit a five-spot fall-off.
“I don’t agree with it,” Herbstreit said. “Ohio State was No. 1 coming into the game. They played really well for three quarters.
And then the game, to Texas’ credit, Texas beat Ohio State. People can say all they want about how Ohio State got conservative, they played not to lose, whatever the case may be. They were dominating a football game 23-3 heading into the fourth quarter, and Texas comes back to win the game.
"Yeah, you should be penalized for losing a game, but it’s kind of silly to drop all the way down to six after playing the way they did coming in at No. 1.”
After the win, Texas rose to No. 1 in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25. The Longhorns were fourth in the AP poll heading into the game at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. The Buckeyes also fell to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, putting them behind, in order, Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami.
Coach Ryan Day’s team led by 20, 23-3, early in the fourth quarter before Texas stormed back to score 21 points in the final 14:19. The Longhorns scored touchdowns on each of their final three drives after managing only a field goal through their first eight possessions.
Despite the loss, the Buckeyes outgained Texas by a 372-336 margin and held the Longhorns to just 4.3 yards per play.
Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian was even more effusive than Herbstreit, saying on Monday that Ohio State should "be rewarded for playing in this game against us."
As with any Ohio State loss, particularly one that unfolded the way it did, Day has received a significant amount of criticism from a fan base with justifiably high expectations. But to Herbstreit, the Buckeyes’ shortcomings shouldn’t have dropped them out of the top five and attributed it to an outdated philosophy from the poll’s voters.
“If they dropped [Ohio State] to 3 I think that would make sense maybe, 2 or 3,” Herbstreit said. “I just don’t understand how they go, that’s just like a 1970s way of polling. It makes no sense to me at all, but I think it’ll work itself out.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kirk Herbstreit rips AP voters for dropping Ohio State to No. 6: 'I don't agree with it'
