Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes enter idle week with plenty to fix after loss

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has officially entered its second idle week. The Buckeyes arrived home early Sunday morning after the flight home from Eugene after a heartbreaking last-second loss to Oregon on Saturday night.

Now the Buckeyes must regroup.

For the offense, they have to make sure they have a plan along the offensive line now that it appears left tackle Josh Simmons will be sidelined for the rest of the season and Tegra Tshabola was clearly banged up. And late-game clock-management will need to be sured up to make sure another blunder like Saturday night doesn’t happen again.

On the defensive side of the ball, Ohio State must regroup in a big way after giving up nearly 500 yards of offense to Oregon, including way too much on deep passes down the field. The pass rush was nearly nonexistent, too. And Oregon did run the ball with some success. A lot needs to be sured up.

The Buckeyes have two weeks of work to figure it all out. They don’t take the field again until Oct. 26 against Nebraska. For now, it’s time for Ohio State to get back to work.

ICYMI: Buckeyes fear season-ending injury for left tackle Josh Simmons

Redshirt junior left tackle Josh Simmons left the Buckeyes’ loss to Oregon on a cart Saturday night after falling to the turf and grabbing his knee on the final play of the first quarter.

Following the loss, Ohio State coach Ryan Day provided a grim update on Simmons’ status moving forward.

“The injury to Josh Simmons hurt,” Day said. “Zen [Michalski, Simmons’ replacement] did a good job of coming in and competing. Tegra went down a little bit there. And so Austin had to go in. So I thought those guys competed.

“I’ll have to get the update on Simmons, but it doesn’t look great in terms of him being able to come back this season. So that’s a big hit for us, but I thought those guys came in and competed in the game.”

Now the Buckeyes wait for the official news, but as Day mentioned, the worst may be the result.

Buckeyes remain in top five despite loss to Oregon

Ohio State assembled this ultra-talented roster with the goal of not losing in mind. The Buckeyes wanted to be historically great.

But after a one-point loss to Oregon in Autzen Stadium on Saturday night, the Buckeyes are now in an interesting spot. They can’t lose again if they want to make the Big Ten title game and still be safely in the College Football Playoff.

Nobody has entirely lost hope for the Buckeyes, especially after a one-point loss to a fellow top team. AP Poll voters certainly haven’t. That’s why they only dropped Ohio State to No. 4 after the loss to now-No. 2 Oregon.

Texas retained the top spot after easily beating rival Oklahoma in the Red River game. The Longhorns are followed by Oregon and Penn State. Ohio State and Georgia round out the top five.

The AP Top 5 can be found below.

AP Top 5 (Oct. 13)

1. Texas (56)
2. Oregon (6)
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. Georgia

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