The clock struck midnight, literally. As the ball left Noah Ruggles’ foot in the final seconds of the 2022 Peach Bowl, the calendar in Atlanta flipped to January 1, 2023. It was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, it became one of the most haunting sequences in the history of college football.
If you're an Ohio State fan, you can probably still see the flight of that ball in your sleep. It wasn't just a miss. It was a shank. A hook. A kick that looked like it belonged on a Sunday morning muni golf course rather than on the stage of a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Ohio State missed field goal didn't just end a game; it altered the trajectory of Ryan Day’s reputation and arguably saved the Georgia Bulldogs' dynasty.
Honestly, the context makes it worse. Ohio State wasn't even supposed to be there. After getting hammered by Michigan in Columbus just weeks prior, the Buckeyes backed into the playoff thanks to a USC loss in the Pac-12 title game. They played like a team with nothing to lose. C.J. Stroud was surgical. He was dodging Jalen Carter and throwing darts to Marvin Harrison Jr. until that terrifying hit over the middle took Harrison out of the game. Even without their best weapon, the Buckeyes marched down the field. They were 50 yards away from playing for a National Championship.
Then came the kick.
The Anatomy of the 50-Yard Heartbreak
People forget that Noah Ruggles was incredibly reliable. Before that night, he was a hero in Columbus. He was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. He had ice in his veins. But 50 yards is a different beast entirely, especially when you’re kicking toward the tunnel in Mercedes-Benz Stadium where the wind—even in a dome—seems to have its own personality.
It was 4th and 1.
Ryan Day has been criticized for a lot of things, but his decision to play for the field goal here remains a massive "what if." The Buckeyes had a few seconds left. They had a timeout. Stroud had been moving the ball with his legs better than he had his entire career. Instead of trying to gain five or ten more yards to make it a high-percentage 40-yarder, the Buckeyes settled.
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Ruggles stepped up. The snap was good. The hold was clean. But the moment the foot met the leather, something was wrong. You could hear it. It wasn't that thud of a pure strike. It was a hollow, glancing sound. The ball started left and stayed left. It didn't just miss the uprights; it missed the entire net.
Georgia’s sideline erupted. Kirby Smart looked like he’d seen a ghost. Ohio State players collapsed. It was a 42-41 final that felt like a car crash in slow motion.
Why the Distance Mattered More Than We Admitted
Statistically, a 50-yard field goal in college football is about a 40% to 50% proposition depending on the kicker. In the 2022 season, Ruggles was perfect from inside 40 yards. But he hadn't been asked to boom many long-range shots. The Ohio State missed field goal highlighted a specific limitation in the Buckeyes’ late-game management.
When you look at the tracking data, Ruggles pulled his hip. It’s a classic mistake when a kicker tries to overcompensate for distance. He tried to kill the ball. When you try to kick a football 60 yards when you only need 50, your technique usually flies out the window. His plant foot was slightly too far forward, causing his swing to wrap around the ball.
It was a hook that would make a weekend golfer cry.
The Fallout: How One Kick Changed Everything
Let’s talk about the butterfly effect. If that ball goes through the uprights, Ohio State plays TCU in the National Championship. Given how Georgia dismantled TCU 65-7, it’s a very safe bet that Ohio State would have won their first title since 2014.
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C.J. Stroud would have left Columbus with a ring.
Ryan Day would have silenced the "can’t win the big one" narrative before it even started.
Instead, the narrative solidified. The Ohio State missed field goal became the symbol of a program that was "close but not quite." It’s a tag that has followed Day through subsequent losses to Michigan and a frustrating 2023 season. It changed how fans view the coaching staff's aggressiveness. Why didn't they run one more play? Why did they trust a college kicker from 50 yards when they had a future NFL superstar at quarterback?
Kirby Smart later admitted that Georgia was "lucky." He knew his defense had been shredded. He knew the Bulldogs had been outplayed for 58 minutes. But football is a game of inches, or in this case, about ten yards to the left.
The Defensive Meltdown Nobody Blames
It's easy to scapegoat the kicker. It's lazy, actually.
Ohio State led by 14 points in the fourth quarter. The defense, led by Jim Knowles, allowed Stetson Bennett to march down the field with ease. They gave up a 76-yard touchdown to Arian Smith because a safety fell down. They couldn't get a stop when it mattered most.
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The kick shouldn't have mattered.
If the defense holds Georgia to a field goal on just one of those late drives, Ruggles is kicking to pad a lead rather than save a season. But in the high-stakes world of the CFP, the last mistake is the one that gets the headlines. Noah Ruggles took the heat so the defense didn't have to.
Breaking Down the "Hook"
Experts who study kicking mechanics, like former NFL kicker Morten Andersen, often point out that pressure does weird things to a kicker's "swing plane."
- Muscle Tension: Under extreme stress, the hip flexors tighten. This prevents a full follow-through.
- The "Look Up" Factor: Kickers are taught to keep their head down until the ball is gone. Ruggles seemed to peek a fraction of a second early, looking for the result before the process was finished.
- Turf Conditions: While the Mercedes-Benz turf is high-end, it's still "fast" turf. If a plant foot slips even a millimeter, the trajectory is ruined.
You can watch the replay a thousand times. Every time, it feels like it might go in, and every time, it veers toward the Georgia fans in the stands. It’s a brutal reminder of the singular pressure placed on specialists.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Fans and Analysts
The 2022 Peach Bowl taught us a few things that still apply to how we watch the game today. If you're betting on college football or just trying to understand the strategy, keep these nuances in mind:
- Don't Settle for 50: Modern analytics suggest that unless you have a kicker with a proven 60-yard leg, you should almost always try to get the ball inside the 32-yard line (a 45-yard kick) before playing for the field goal. Ryan Day’s conservatism in that final minute is a textbook example of "playing not to lose."
- The "Star Power" Vacuum: When Marvin Harrison Jr. left that game with a concussion, the Buckeyes' offensive geometry changed. Without a true vertical threat to keep the safeties deep, Georgia could squeeze the intermediate routes, which is why the drive stalled where it did.
- Kicker Psychology: Ruggles was a "placement" kicker, not a "power" kicker. Coaches need to know their personnel's physical ceiling. Asking a placement kicker to hit a 50-yarder under the highest pressure imaginable is a low-percentage gamble.
To move forward, Ohio State fans have had to embrace a certain level of stoicism. The program has since leaned even harder into recruiting and the transfer portal, trying to ensure they never find themselves at the mercy of a single swing of the leg again. They brought in Chip Kelly to run the offense. They spent millions in NIL to bolster the defense. All of it is a reaction to that one night in Atlanta.
The next time you see a team milk the clock to set up a long field goal, remember Noah Ruggles. Remember the silence that fell over the scarlet-clad half of the stadium. And remember that in college football, "close enough" usually isn't.
Next Steps for Deep-Dive Fans:
Go back and watch the final four minutes of the 2022 Peach Bowl on YouTube, specifically focusing on the Buckeyes' play-calling after they crossed the 50-yard line. Contrast that with Georgia's aggressive two-minute drill just minutes prior. It provides a masterclass in the difference between playing to win and playing to survive.