Ryan Day and Ohio State came up just short against Oregon, but the way the Buckeyes came up short will haunt the team for a while.

With less than 2 minutes to go, the Buckeyes got the ball back and trailing by one point after a go-ahead field goal by Oregon. The offense responded with Will Howard guiding the team all the way into Oregon territory and on the cusp of the red zone inside of a minute to play.

Instead of driving further down the field or kicking a field goal, the Buckeyes actually went backwards. The reason? Star freshman Jeremiah Smith was flagged for offensive pass interference.

Here’s the play:

The penalty and the amount of time that ticked away was ultimately disastrous for the Buckeyes. They would get one final chance to set up a game-tying field goal but Will Howard’s scramble allowed the rest of the time to expire.

Day was asked about that penalty after the game, but he was not in the mood to be pointing fingers. He admitted the penalty cost the Buckeyes but also said the goal was to avoid things coming down to one play.

“We want to leave no doubt. I felt like we should have done that tonight. We did not,” said Day. “Then you put it into the hands of a call, and you don’t get it, then that’s on us. It should never come down to that situation.

“Gave up too many X plays tonight, turned the ball over in the first half and it cost us. We got to do a better job of handling those situations and playing better overall. Too many explosive plays on the defensive side.”

For now, Day and the Buckeyes will have to try and regroup and turn their focus to ensuring they do their part in setting up a rematch vs. Oregon in Indianapolis.