Ohio State has a chance to be the last team standing later this month, and at this point, it would be a massive disappointment if they weren’t.
Ryan Day’s Buckeyes come into each college football season with three goals: to win the National Championship, to win the Big Ten championship and to beat Michigan.
After being embarrassed by Michigan in the final game of the regular season, Ohio State was not granted the opportunity to represent the Big Ten in the championship game. So far, they are 0-for-2 on their goals. That’s not good.
But when Day lost to Michigan, the sentiment throughout Buckeye Nation was that he needed to win the National Championship to save his job.
With ten days before the National Championship game is played in Atlanta, it seems as if Day’s Buckeyes are on the doorstep of being crowned the winner of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.
Ohio State bounced back from their loss to Michigan by absolutely demolishing Tennessee. The Volunteers quite literally had no chance of winning that game as Ohio State’s new game plan, which focused on throwing the ball downfield and being aggressive, was just too difficult to handle.
A similar story unfolded for Oregon in the Rose Bowl, as the Ducks started their New Year with a good, old-fashioned can of ass whoopin. The Buckeyes won that game 41-21 with the same recipe—getting standout freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith the football.
If Ohio State follows that same game plan against Texas during the Cotton Bowl on Friday night, they will control their own destiny.
The Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame was a little bit of a slop fest, with the Fighting Irish coming out victorious. Notre Dame vs. Ohio State would instantly become a dream matchup throughout the Midwest, but Marcus Freeman’s squad would face an uphill battle slowing down Chip Kelly’s offense.
Throughout the Orange Bowl, Penn State did not complete a single pass to a wide receiver, and the game still came down to a last-second field goal. Neither the Nittany Lions nor the Fighting Irish are in the same stratosphere as the Buckeyes right now as long as they stick to what works.
Whatever game plan Ohio State rolled out against Michigan should be crumbled up and thrown away at the bottom of a trash can in the bowels of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus.
With Will Howard and Smith’s electrifying connection, there should be no slowing down the Buckeyes in 2025. The National Championship is truly theirs to lose.
