Four missed opportunities that could have swung Peach Bowl for Buckeyes

ATLANTA — Once the game ended, the confetti was done falling and the result began to set it, Ohio State coach Ryan Day wasn’t into moral victories of any kind.

No, not after a crushing 42-41 loss to Georgia inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night. He wasn’t going to make it seem like this was somehow a good result for his Buckeyes team, a unit that came so close to stunning the top-ranked Bulldogs in their own state.

But he also understands how close Ohio State was from pulling it off.

“It came down to one play,” Day said. “It wasn’t just the last play. There were a lot of plays in the game that you wish you had back as coaches and players. That’s what happens in a game like this.”

Ohio State will have 244 days to figure out if it can get back to this point, before the season-opening game at Indiana next year. For now, though, the Buckeyes will certainly be looking at plenty of what ifs from the Peach Bowl thriller that ended in heartbreak.

Lettermen Row is breaking down four missed opportunities that could have helped lift Ohio State over Georgia — and into the national title game.

Buckeyes can’t snag pair of interceptions

After Ohio State squandered a 14-point first-half lead and Georgia went up three points, C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes responded with a four-play drive that took just 55 seconds off the clock. It gave them positive momentum and a nice lead. But Georgia came out in the final minute throwing on its first two plays before halftime. Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett fired a pair of throws, which were each nearly picked off; the first was almost snatched by J.T. Tuimoloau and the second in the secondary from Cameron Brown.

Once Georgia realized it might turn the ball over and surrender more points before the break, the Bulldogs decided to take a knee and go to halftime. Those two could-have-been interceptions will serve as a big what if for Ohio State, because it could have tacked on more points before the half if either of those were caught.

Ohio State pulls out trick punt play, Georgia stops it with timeout

With an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Ohio State faced a critical decision: 4th and 1 from its own 34-yard line. Go for it? Punt? Be aggressive? Play for field position? It was a huge call for Ryan Day, who gambled by calling a fake punt, similar to the fake punt that was supposed to be run against Michigan and didn’t end up happening. Ohio State seemed to get the snap off, a direct snap to up-back Mitch Rossi, who got the first down. Except he didn’t. Georgia coach Kirby Smart recognized that the fake was on and called a timeout just before the play.

The Buckeyes punted. And on the next play, Georgia threw a 76-yard touchdown pass and picked up a two-point conversion to cut the lead to just three.

Ryan Day settles for field goal in fourth quarter

Ohio State went into the fourth quarter with a 14-point lead, but Georgia cut it to within three points with just eight minutes to play. The Buckeyes offense went to work, keeping the ball for nearly six minutes, eating up 45 yards of field on 11 plays. But once they got down near the red zone, the drive stalled. C.J. Stroud took a sack on the second-down play to make it 3rd and 17. An incompletion shortly after led to a 48-yard field goal attempt by Noah Ruggles, which he cashed in on to make it a six-point game. And it was good for Ohio State to get points — and make Georgia need a touchdown to win.

But if the Buckeyes could have scored a touchdown on that drive, the game may have been over. Instead, they gave the ball back to the Georgia offense, which scored a touchdown. And won by one.

Missed kick sends Buckeyes home

Oh, what could have been. There’s no questioning how well C.J. Stroud and the Ohio State offense played for most of the night on Saturday. But the aforementioned drive that ended in a made field goal wasn’t nearly as bad of a missed opportunity as the final 54 seconds proved to be for the Buckeyes. One-point game. Final minute. A trip to the national title game on the line.

Stroud picked up 32 yards on the ground and powered the Ohio State offense down the field, putting it in position to kick a game-winning field goal. After a negative rushing play and two incompletions, though, Noah Ruggles had a 50-yard field goal attempt, which would have been a career-long. He missed it wide left, and the Buckeyes fell to Georgia.