MIAMI, Florida -- After what this Ohio State team endured this year, everyone deserves some extra credit.

Fighting through ever-pressing COVID issues, constantly wondering whether games would actually take place, and grinding through a season without fans, friends, or family-- let’s take a moment to fully appreciate what these players and coaches have sacrificed for collegiate athletics.

With that being said, Monday night was mildly disappointing from a football perspective.

A lot of that can be contributed to the injury bug.

Justin Fields was admittedly not 100 percent, Trey Sermon left after one play, and Wyatt Davis injured his knee in the first half and did not return. Each of those three instances played a significant part in a subpar performance from the Buckeye offense.

Even so, Ohio State failed to capitalize in situations where it would normally put seven points on the board and was subsequently run off the field by a dominant Alabama side.

Let’s try our best to fairly grade the Ohio State offense following its 52-24 loss to the Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship.

It was a pedestrian day for Fields in what we can assume was his collegiate finale.

The junior quarterback went 17-for-33 through the air for 194 yards and one touchdown, and tossed in a few big scrambles on the way to 67 yards on the ground. It was a good-but-not-great performance from Ohio State's QB1.

He saw pressure all night and was forced to throw the ball away a few times, but also flat-out missed throws he’d usually make in big situations.

It’s hard to judge what percentage of those issues were injury-related (it definitely was not a small percentage), but Fields didn’t want to hear any of that after the game.

“At the end of the day, I was able to play, and I didn't get the job done,” Fields said.

Fields definitely looked stiffer than usual but displayed confidence in his feet and was able to avoid any significant hits. He just didn’t have his normal chances to make big plays.

Receivers were covered. Sermon wasn't there as a familiar check down. His offensive line was slightly off. In the end, there just wasn't enough to keep the Ohio State offense on the same level as Alabama, and that’s OK.

Fields will still go down as one of the most successful quarterbacks in Ohio State history.

He ushered in a new era of Buckeye football next to Ryan Day.

And most important of all, he was a winner.

Grade: B

We have a dilemma here.

This unit is going to get a bad grade-- that’s inevitable.

But is it really deserved?

Sermon left early, leaving a gaping hole in terms of both talent and offensive scheming. Master Teague hadn’t played in two weeks and is a fairly limited player, especially against defensive fronts as big as Alabama. Miyan Williams didn’t make the trip, and everyone else was wildly unproven and unready for a game like the one played on Monday night.

Plus, Teague wasn’t terrible early! He went for two touchdowns in the first half and was mostly positive (albeit uninspiring) before being ignored in the latter stages when Ohio State faced a mounting deficit.

Marcus Crowley did very little when called upon, but I’m sure the coaching staff wasn’t exactly expecting much from Marcus Crowley entering this game.

Beyond that, there isn’t much to say.

Without Sermon, this group isn’t terribly exciting, or explosive, or impressive.

Expectations were fairly low when the senior transfer went down, and the remaining running backs filled those expectations to a tee, doing just enough to not be bad but not enough to impact the game in any meaningful way.

Grade: D+, but who knows?

It was a below-average performance for Ohio State’s top two wide receivers against Alabama.

That opening sentence perfectly encapsulates the mundane reality that was this group’s showing on Monday night.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson combined to catch 11 passes for 119 total yards, well below their season averages. Wilson was targeted nine times and only reeled in three receptions, a disappointing end to a sophomore season that started with such ferocity.

Beyond those 11 receptions, there weren’t many meaningful catches in this game.

Jeremy Ruckert set up Ohio State’s first touchdown with a diving 36-yard grab and Jameson Williams caught a 14-yard pass across the middle for a first down in the second quarter (and also made a very fun special teams tackle on DeVonta Smith).

That was about it.

Jaxson Smith-Njigba got into the action late, snagging a pair of passes for 20 combined yards when all was just about wrapped up.

The tight ends under-performed after a brilliant outing against Clemson, struggling in pass protection and not receiving much love through the air.

There just wasn’t much to write home about in this game.

Luckily, Wilson and a large chunk of this talent should be back and ready for a few more big plays next season.

At least we have that.

Grade: D+

Without Davis for much of the night, this unit just wasn’t the same.

Alabama's pressure was constantly there against Fields, and the offensive line struggled to contain it, forcing the injured quarterback to scramble for his own safety.

The run game also struggled to find an identity, which isn’t really the line’s fault, but still reflects poorly on the group as a whole.

It wasn’t a panicky performance from the front five, just a fairly loose and inconsistent one.

Ohio State definitely lost the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The offensive line deserves a lot of that blame, but also some praise for surviving the season and holding itself together against an elite team.

For all it has dealt with this season, the Ohio State offensive line still managed to firmly place itself among the best in the country. That’s an impressive feat.

Who stays and who goes remains to be seen, but as of now, everyone is still on the table for next season.

Grade: C

For being the National Championship and all, this was a fairly dull performance from Ohio State on offense.

Beyond Ruckert’s catch and few Fields scrambles, not many exciting things happened in this game. That translated to the statistics, too-- no one truly stood out or had an exceptional day, but no one had an obviously terrible outing either.

When playing against a team like Rutgers or Nebraska, that kind of meh performance may cut it.

Not so much against Alabama-- no matter who is out.

If I had to describe this offensive performance in three to four words, those words would probably be “uninspiring,” “pedestrian,” and “injury-riddled.”

All together, those aren't the words you want describing your offense after a championship game.

Grade: C-