IMO I think it says exactly what we saw last Saturday. A professional team beating a collegiate team. I get that as fans we should be pissed at the outcome, but at the end of the day we are 5 games into a new OC trying to revamp the worst offense in the country. I have no problem saying were not a title contender, and we got pounded by one of the best teams in the country that is a contender.
I may get absolutely hammered for this, and accused of not being a fan, but OSU is light years ahead of us and their prestige and deep pockets are going to continue to separate them from us regardless of whether we feel the games passed KF by or not. We can say NIL doesn't play that big a role, but look what our limited NIL funds have done for us. It bought us a few QBs and the majority of our defense back this season, and the majority of us aren't convinced we have a real QB on the roster capable of throwing the ball downfield. OSU and other truly elite programs no longer have a strangle hold on recruiting, but if OSU doesn't feel that they have a QB they're going to dip into their wallet and find someone a hell of a lot better then McNamara or Sullivan while they continue to bring in players like Jeremiah Smith who are potential all-american's the moment they step foot on campus.
I love this team, our staff, and that we "do it the right way". However, I'm not going to change my opinion of where we are a as a program after a game like OSU, because TBH I thought we hung around with them longer then I expected and was not at all surprised by the final score. I get the "trending in the wrong direction against ranked opponents" argument but when facing opponents that could financially gamble on our current starters simply to provide depth behind their starters, the "trend" doesn't really bother me, because it makes sense. NIL has changed the game and unless things change and we can start legitimately competing for these very same players I don't see it trending the other way.