Ohio State football: How we should remember the 2022 Buckeyes

For many, the story of the 2022 Ohio State Buckeyes will be “Wide left.”

But that’s not fair — certainly not to outstanding placekicker Noah Ruggles, who was pushed to the edge of his range for the 50-yard field goal try that would have sent the Buckeyes to the national title game. Ruggles simply missed a kick — his mistake being not the first, not even necessarily the most significant in a spiral that sent Ohio State from a 2-touchdown lead to headed home.

And even then, for a program that has been desperate to recover its mojo from CFP domination, Saturday was not more of the same. It was Georgia hanging on by the skin of a missed field goal. It was Georgia that was fortunate to get a targeting call overturned, that hurriedly called a time out just before what was almost certainly a converted Ohio State fake punt, that snuck past the Buckeyes to the national championship game.

No, the story of the 2022 Buckeyes will be two things — a mass of injuries and a competitive spirit that almost outlasted them.

If you had told an Ohio State fan that on the pivotal possession of the season, CJ Stroud would have driven the Buckeyes into position to win the game despite lacking 5 of the 6 most pivotal non-Stroud skill position players on offense, they would have taken that. And been amazed. But that was exactly what happened.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was never a meaningful part of this 2022 team. That’s arguably the top wide receiver in the nation gone from virtually the opening beat of the season. TreVeyon Henderson missed the Georgia game. Miyan Williams played, but was well short of his normal capabilities. Cade Stover and Marvin Harrison both did play, but both were knocked out of the game by injuries before that final drive. So it was Stroud, Emeka Egbuka, and whoever OSU could throw at the wall going against the Georgia defense with the season on the line.

And it almost worked.

Yes, the Michigan loss in the regular season was painful. Yes, coming up short against Georgia is a brutal blow for a program that is simply too talented and too historically significant to rally around moral victories. But the real story of the Ohio State season was a team that was given every reason to quit, to slide back, to finish 10-3 and blame injuries … but that never did that.

A year ago, Stroud looked like a video game quarterback. It wasn’t whether he had an open receiver, it was which receiver was most open or would gain the most yards. In 2022, Stroud’s skills shone through. Yes, OSU’s offensive line protected him remarkably well. Yes, he had plenty of outstanding targets for passes. But Stroud had to work for this 2022 season. His grit is remarkable.

It hardly stands alone.

Harrison emerged, Stover significantly improved, the bevy of running backs ground out yards. Jim Knowles’ defense was significantly better than last season’s … although, again, injuries hurt the final product. Ohio State lost, but Ohio State wasn’t beaten like in years past. The Buckeyes were gutty, resilient, and came oh so close to a win for the ages.

Many will want to blame someone. Ryan Day still hasn’t won the big one. Knowles’ defense didn’t deliver in the season’s biggest games. Ohio State must have handled the injuries wrong or should have held players out or gotten players back.

But maybe the hardest lesson in sports is that luck exists … and often manifests itself in injuries. The Buckeyes were a national championship caliber team in 2022. They were just unlucky.