How do you stop Ohio State? A brief history of the last 20 years

The No. 1 Buckeyes are 3-0 and looking good heading into this off week. While considering what could stop them this season, let's learn some lessons from the past.

Quarterback Kyle McCord and the Ohio State passing game wasn’t quite good enough in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has won two national titles in the last 20 years. Over that period from 2005 to 2024, the Buckeyes won 225 games, second-most to Alabama (231). Only Georgia, Oklahoma and Clemson also topped 200 total wins in the previous 20 years.

Pretty good. So why doesn’t Ohio State have 20 straight national titles? Why aren’t the Buckeyes going for 21 in a row this season?

What’s wrong with this program?!

Here’s the thing. Outside of the 2011 season that exploded due to NCAA sanctions, Ohio State was in the mix for every one of those national titles. Usually I’ll reference where Ohio State was ranked in the preseason or at the end of the season, but how about this:

The highest rank in any poll the Buckeyes reached in each of those years? Sixteen times in 20 years they peaked at No. 1 or No. 2 (eight times each.) The other four seasons they topped out at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 15 (that was 2011).

The Buckeyes got into the top two 80 percent of the time. Always there, always around, which I’ve always contended is their greatest accomplishment. That’s two full decades of real belief that a title could happen.

So when it didn’t, why didn’t it? Chastising the Buckeyes for not winning 20 straight is, of course, sarcasm. But as they sit at No. 1 for the ninth season in the last 21, let’s run through what has stopped Ohio State in the past as an exercise in what could stop Ohio State this season. When you’re always in the mix, you need to keep your head on a swivel.

Here are my brief answers to what prevented the Buckeyes from winning it all the 18 times in the last 20 years that it didn’t happen. Please chime in with better answers if you have them (which you certainly will).