The holy trifecta. Win the Big Ten, wear the national championship ring, and beat the archrival, the team up north. That’s what constitutes the laundry list for every Buckeyes fan. And if the program falls short of these expectations, expect a chunk of the fandom to turn a nasty shade of purple. Ohio State, the defending national champion, presently comes off unscathed in the 2025 season, 7-0, draped with a No. 1 rank. But even the champion has got to deal with criticism.

Over the weekend, Ryan Day’s program rolled over Wisconsin, 34-0. But there were still some issues that the Buckeyes can improve on. Julian Sayin passed for 393 yards on 36/42 completions, including 4 touchdowns. However, the ground game wasn’t that great. “And then on the offensive side, are they running it great? No. No, they’re not,” Joel Klatt states on his show.  The run game proved lackluster, with the running backs averaging 3.9 yards per carry. Ryan Day himself admitted that they “left some meat on the bone” regarding the run game.

Klatt continued, “And they’re going to try to go back and fix that. And I’m sure they’re going to do that. But Wisconsin does one thing well, and that’s stop the run… they were able to hold in check Ohio State’s run game.” The HC further stated that he would look back and watch the film, figuring out what went wrong, because certainly, they need to up their run game down the stretch.

The analyst added to his point, “And I know Ohio State fans are going to complain about that because Buckeye fans tend to focus on the areas where they need to get better.” It’s not a slight on Ohio State fans, but can you blame them if they’re spoiled? They see their defense roll over teams every week, and the quarterback is finally coming good. The skill positions are sorted with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, but that lack of experience in the RB room is there.

Ohio State fans have seen it all. They understand that the passing game may not work against a team like Michigan. That’s what happened last year when Will Howard unfortunately had a bad day. In that game, Ryan Day needed the ground game to take the lead, but you can’t suddenly do it if you haven’t been great during the season.

That’s frankly what every Buckeye fan would like to avoid. Michigan is just one example. They may have to face Indiana or Oregon in the B1G Championship game. But everything is not bad about the run game. Bo Jackson has emerged as the fan favorite in the last few weeks. Against Wisconsin, he even contributed with five catches for 57 yards.

Ryan Day’s defense allowed least points since 1993

Both of the Buckeyes’ units came off as impressive against the Badgers. The defense barely allowed 144 yards to Danny O’Niel’s offense. Matt Patricia’s defense has been picking up compliments all season. As of now, they have allowed just 41 points this season, which is the lowest total since 1993.

“We want to be the best defense in college football,” said DL Caden Curry. “So, we don’t want them to get anything. Going out there and doing that is definitely something that’s part of our goals,” he said, per the Columbus Dispatch.

The Buckeyes kicked off the game with a 17-0 lead within the first fifteen minutes, racking up another 17 points in the second half. WRs Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith registered 208 receiving yards combined.