LOS ANGELES – Luke Fahey's first college football start didn't go as planned, but his coach isn't putting the blame on him.
The Ohio State quarterback struggled in his first full game replacing Julian Sayin, as the Buckeyes fell to Southern California 30-18
in one of their worst offensive performances of the season. Ohio State didn't score a touchdown until the final two minutes and finished with its fewest points of the season.Fahey finished 21-for-38 for 260 yards and a touchdown pass.
When a new quarterback can't replicate the success of his predecessor, questions are inevitable about whether the change under
center could derail a team's season. But that's not how Buckeyes coach Ryan Day saw it.
Instead, Day spread the blame around, including to himself, while defending his freshman quarterback.
"I think for Luke, he competed. It wasn’t perfect, but we had some big, huge drops, and we weren't able to help him out there," Day said.
"We weren’t able — to me — to play well enough to support a young freshman quarterback who has had his first start on the road," he later added.
While what Day said was true — several drops killed Ohio State's momentum and did no favors for a quarterback trying to fill Sayin's shoes — Fahey didn't exactly inspire confidence, either.
There has to be legitimate concern about how far this team can go without Sayin.
Sayin is out indefinitely, with a strong belief he's likely sidelined for at least the rest of the regular season. And Fahey's first go-around didn't provide much hope everything will go swimmingly without the incumbent starter.
For all the passes Ohio State's receivers dropped, Fahey made plenty of mistakes of his own.
He often looked flustered in the pocket, struggling to make quick reads and get the ball to his receivers. His legs didn't help much, either. He was sacked twice and managed minimal gains on nearly every rushing attempt. When he did get the ball out, several throws sailed beyond his receivers, giving them little chance to make a play. More than once, Fahey ended a play with his hands on his hips or on his head in disbelief.
It naturally made sense for Fahey to lean heavily on Jeremiah Smith. Just get your best player the ball and let him do the rest.
Yet even though Smith again led the Buckeyes with 10 receptions for 83 yards, his impact was minimal. USC kept him in check for most of the night, with 36 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter when Ohio State was already well behind and desperately trying to make it a game.
That's an ominous sign. If you're still getting Smith the ball and he's not changing the game, you're in trouble. Not only does that damage Smith's chances of winning the Heisman Trophy, but it hurts Ohio State's chances of winning anything.
Now at 6-2, Ohio State has almost no margin for error. Another loss would push the season dangerously close to failure.
On paper, the Buckeyes shouldn't lose again with Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan remaining. But after watching the offense crumble against a suspect USC defense, what inspires confidence this was merely a one-off? And how much worse could things get if highly touted sophomore Tavien St. Clair is forced into the QB1 role and isn't ready?
"Just way too many mistakes," Day said.
It further illustrates just how valuable backup quarterbacks can be. Oregon lost Dante Moore and watched its season unravel. Michigan is rolling with Tommy Carr and still scraping by. UCLA lost Nico Iamaleava, and while Ty Dieffenbach has kept the Bruins undefeated, the offense has been sluggish.
If Halloween was any indication, Ohio State could be next on death row if Fahey can't step up.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Day didn't blame Luke Fahey for Ohio State loss, but QB raises red flags
