Ohio State football came out a winner this past weekend even though they didn’t have to step on the field.

The Buckeyes took advantage of more losses by Top-10 teams, climbing up the rankings and looking even better in the eyes of the all-important College Football Playoff committee.

While Miami maintained a solid grip on the No. 1 spot, BYU, Ole Miss and Texas Tech all suffered key losses. Add in Tennessee and Houston, and it was a good weekend to not be competing.

Ohio State also gained valuable practice time for new quarterbacks Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair. They will be tasked with replacing Julian Sayin, as the 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist is likely out for the remainder of the season.

Combined, Fahey and St. Clair have completed 14 of 20 passes for 255 yards, throwing three touchdowns against three interceptions. Neither has done much in the run game, but Sayin was far from a scrambler in his own right.

Ohio State’s Supporting Cast Will Be Important Moving Forward

The quarterback position is always a priority for any team looking to compete for a national championship. But there is a reason both Fahey and St. Clair are at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes recruit top prospects year in and year out. And while Fahey and St. Clair might not have the star power of Sayin or others around the country, they still did enough to warrant scholarships in the eyes of the Ohio State coaching staff.

What is more important will be what the likes of Heisman Trophy frontrunner Jeremiah Smith, Bo Jackson and others can do. They need to make it easy on either Fahey or St. Clair or a combination of the two.

The Schedule For The Buckeyes No Longer Looks Imposing

At the start of the season, having the likes of USC, Oregon and Michigan over the final month of the regular season looked scary. Add in the loss of your starting quarterback, and those hopes for a playoff appearance looked bleak.

But the Trojans are struggling, the Ducks look like a shell of their old selves, and the Wolverines have not really recovered from their “win” earlier this year.

Instead, Northwestern in three weeks looks like the most difficult opponent left for the Buckeyes to contend with. And with the way teams are dropping games left and right, even another loss might not doom Ohio State’s hopes.