The Ohio State Buckeyes beat themselves.
And it's going to certainly hurt their confidence.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Buckeyes took on the Texas Longhorns from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, falling 24-23. The Longhorns climbed back from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to sneak away with the victory.
A combination of defensive miscues, failed offensive possessions and missed opportunities caused the Buckeyes to lose the game.
However, a late missed field goal from newcomer Connor Hawkins was one of the biggest sore spots. He joined the program this past offseason, transferring from Baylor.
With 4:21 to go in the final frame, Hawkins missed a 45-yard field goal, which would have put the Buckeyes up by two scores.
Reflecting on the missed field goal, head coach Ryan Day acknowledged that the kick was a critical missed opportunity to close out the game. The miss, along with stalled drives, left the team on its heels down the stretch.
"Today, we really played well for three quarters and didn't play well enough in the fourth quarter. That's the bottom line," Daysaid postgame. "We stalled on some offensive drives. I felt we had them on the ropes and didn't finish.
"... Certainly had a chance to kick the field goal to make it a two-score game and didn't do that. This one hurts."
But this isn't the first time Ohio State has been plagued by special teams errors.
The Buckeyes lost the Big Ten Championship to a Fernando Mendoza-led Indiana Hoosiers squad, with then-kicker Jayden Fielding missing a game-tying field goal wide left. He left the game open for the Hoosiers to close out the game, which they would, ultimately defeating the Buckeyes 13-10.
Fielding had also missed a kick in the Cotton Bowl against the University of Miami.
Just before halftime, the Buckeyes were starting to build momentum against a tough Hurricanes team. Pushing the offense into field goal range, quarterback Julian Sayin set up Fielding to smack through a 42-yarder.
He would ultimately miss it wide left.
A few years earlier, the Buckeyes' most notable missed kick occurred when then-kicker Noah Ruggles failed to connect on a 50-yarder in the 2022 Peach Bowl against Georgia.
His kick missed just as the ball dropped in Times Square and the calendar turned to 2023, making it an even more difficult moment to swallow.
While Hawkins had made three other kicks, including a 48-yard field goal and two PATs, in Saturday's defeat to the Longhorns, the Buckeyes' long history of missed crucial kicks casts a dark shadow over his missed attempt.
The Buckeyes and Hawkins will have a chance to avenge the one-point loss this coming weekend as they take on the Kent State Golden Flashes.
The two sides will go toe-to-toe from The Show on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 12:00 p.m. EST.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ohiostate as Historic Kicking Struggles Continue Into 2026 As Buckeyes Fall To Texas .
