Ohio State Falls Flat In Cotton Bowl Loss to Missouri

The Ohio State Buckeyes ended their season on the flattest of notes in their Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri

Matt Galatzan | Dec 29, 2023

Friday night's Cotton Bowl matchup vs. the Missouri Tigers in Arlington was supposed to be a rallying call for the Ohio State Buckeyes heading into the offseason, as well as an opportunity to show the rest of the country that they were as good as their No. 7 ranking advertised.

Instead, it was their worst offensive showing of the Ryan Day era, with the Buckeyes falling 14-3 at AT&T Stadium.

From the get-go, things were going to be in doubt for the Buckeyes, who lost their starting quarterback Kyle McCord to the NCAA Transfer Portal after the conclusion of the regular season and had their best player Marvin Harrison Jr. opting out of the game.

That said, this was not the Michigan or Penn State defense that Ohio State was facing. It was a remarkably average Missouri defense that was missing its two best players Ennis Rakestraw and Ty'Ron Hopper.

And even without the two Missouri stars on the other side, Buckeyes starter Devin Brown looked lost. And when he went out, Lincoln Kienholz was even worse.

The Buckeyes' offensive line didn't help the matter, allowing four sacks, and for both quarterbacks to be battered and bruised throughout the night.

Even TreVeyon Henderson, who started the game with 50 yards on 11 carries, couldn't find an inch of space, gaining just 21 yards on his next eight carries and finishing with just 72 yards.

Lincoln Kienholz In After Devin Brown Exits with Injury

And the vaunted Ohio State defense? It did everything it could. But without any help from the offense, it too eventually ran out of gas and allowed Missouri to rack up 14 fourth-quarter points to put the game away.

Now with the bowl loss behind them - the Buckeyes will limp into the offseason with a boatload of questions surrounding the program.

Who will stay? Who will leave? Who can replace Marvin Harrison Jr? Who is the quarterback? How will this team compete with the Michigan Wolverines?

But, those are questions for the new year.

For now, the Buckeyes will return to Colombus, lick their wounds, and hope that they can find a way to fill some very evident holes from Friday night by the time the fall of 2024 comes around.

Published Dec 29, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com