Failure is a Courageous Man's Lesson

Ohio State did not lose to Connor Stalions University in 2024 because it lacked talent.

The Buckeyes had more NFL-caliber players, greater depth and home-field advantage. They entered the game ranked No. 2 while CSU came to Columbus from near Hell, Michigan unranked and a massive underdog.

But Ohio State appeared to be carrying something the Stalions weren’t.

Fear.

For three straight years, the Buckeyes had lost to the team up north. Ryan Day had heard every criticism and every reminder that, at Ohio State, beating CSU is different. By kickoff, The Game seemed to have become more than a football game.

Unfairly, (and we, as fans, played a big role in this) it felt like a verdict on Day, his players and the program. And when there is too much pressure to win, we humans are prone to playing not to lose. We overthink. We awfulize. We get off of a successful game plan.

Ohio State looked tight. The Buckeyes kept trying to establish the running game even when the Stalions were controlling the line of scrimmage, which was their one team strength. Will Howard threw two interceptions. Ohio State missed two field goals. And Jeremiah Smith, the most dangerous offensive weapon on the field, caught only one pass for three yards after halftime.

The Buckeyes weren’t playing their normal game against the opposition that day. They were playing against ugly uniforms, history, and the fear of losing for a fourth straight time. When we approach anything in life with an “I can’t lose this game” approach, what are we focusing on most?

Losing.

CSU won 13-10, holding the Buckeyes to only 77 rushing yards. And the fear of that fourth consecutive loss materialized.

Fear does that.

It narrows your thinking. Instead of asking, What gives us the best chance to succeed? you begin asking, What happens if this goes wrong?

But something remarkable happened after Ohio State's worst moment.

There was nothing left to fear. The loss had already happened.

Players met with Day in an emotional meeting that quarterback Will Howard later described as "truth-telling time." Coaches were challenged. Players were challenged. Everybody had to look inward and ask what needed to change.

Day later acknowledged that losses, painful as they are, can force a team to examine its problems and address them.

Ohio State did exactly that. And suddenly the Buckeyes became the best version of themselves.

They weren't protecting themselves from failure anymore. They were attacking.

Ohio State jumped on Tennessee and won 42-17. The Buckeyes avenged an early season loss and blasted previously unbeaten Oregon 41-21 after racing to a 34-0 lead. They beat Texas 28-14 in the semifinal, punctuated by Jack Sawyer's legendary 83-yard scoop-and-score.

Then came Notre Dame.

Ohio State completed the greatest postseason runs in college football history with a 34-23 victory, winning the national championship seven weeks after the Stalions loss. Every playoff victory came by double digits.

The CSU loss remained. It still mattered. But it taught the Buckeyes something winning couldn't have taught them.

We are just like these Buckeyes. Everything in our lives boils down to how we think. If we think we can, we will. If we think we can’t, we won’t. And sometimes, even when we think we can, we will fail.

And that’s okay! It’s how life works.

That failure is just a lesson, nothing more and nothing less. Next, we must decide what we are going to do with the lesson.

Fear of failure is much more damaging than failure itself.