Saturday night was a critical game in numerous ways for Ohio State and it fell flat following its bye week with a 30-18 loss to USC.

It was the first game without quarterback Julian Sayin as freshman Luke Fahey got the nod for the Buckeyes. While he had some good moments, the first-time starter wasn’t able to lead the Buckeyes’ offense to enough scoring drives ending in touchdowns to keep up with the USC offensive attack.

Ohio State scored on three of its first five drives of the game, but all three were field goals while USC scored touchdowns on two of its first three drives, and put up points on four of its six first-half possessions.

The Buckeyes defense, which was among the top in the country coming into Saturday, struggled all night and it began from the kick. The Trojans wasted no time, scoring on the second play from scrimmage on a 69-yarder that immediately put life into the USC sideline and took any initial wind out of the Ohio State sails.

Fahey, who came into the game with just 203 yards combined on the season, threw for 260 yards while going 21-of-38 with one touchdown.

The drive of the game, and then momentum-changer, was a fumble by running back Isaiah West on a swing pass from Fahey. The Buckeyes were driving, in the midst of a 60+ yard drive and on the USC 31 yard line before the turnover. Two plays later? A 70 yard pass to set up the Trojans on the Buckeyes three yard line. USC would score two plays after, making it 27-9 at the midway point of the third quarter and Ohio State wasn't able to recover.

That type of miscue was the highlight, but it was multiple self-inflicted mistakes that limited the Buckeyes. Despite outgaining USC by nearly 130 yards, it was 11 penalties for 75 yards at timely moments the held them back.

Jeremiah Smith had 10 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown - becoming the Big Ten leader in all-time receiving touchdowns.

Bo Jackson had a terrific game, running for 121 yards on 5.8 yards a carry.

The Buckeyes had nearly 20 more minutes of possession and ran 31 more offensive plays.

Ohio State now sits at 8-2 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten play.