THE HODGEPODGE: THE OHIO STATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BANDWAGON IS FILLING UP FOLLOWING TWO DOMINATING PLAYOFF WINS, THREE OF THE FOUR CFP SEMIFINALISTS ARE NORTHERN SCHOOLS
Welcome to The Hodgepodge.
I can’t say it’s totally surprising Ohio State beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl. The manner in which it happened, though, is one that totally caught me off-guard. Ohio State took a commanding 34-0 lead on the No. 1, lone undefeated team in the country and the contest was essentially over before Dan Lanning and company could make halftime adjustments. I can neither confirm nor deny whether OSU served their players halftime meals or not, but if they did, it’s all but certain roasted Duck was on the menu.
Jeremiah Smith was unstoppable, regardless of who or how many Oregon defensive backs were guarding him. He’s nearing unguardable status and increasing his already fast-growing legend at Ohio State as a true freshman.
Will Howard was equally impressive, delivering his second straight 300-yard passing game and making his best throw of the day to Emeka Egbuka in the first half for Ohio State’s second touchdown of the game. For someone who was labeled as a big question mark before the season started, Howard is playing like a star through two playoff games.
A much-maligned offensive line kept Howard clean most of the day, opened running lanes, and made two deadly Oregon pass rushers nearly nonexistent.
The defense also did a complete 180 from the first meeting. OSU brought a tenacious pass rush (more on that later), had Cody Simon and Caleb Downs flying everywhere around the field, and Denzel Burke, who was embarrassed by his first performance against Oregon, didn’t allow a single catch this time around.
In short, what could go right did go right for Ohio State in The Granddaddy of Them All. Leading up to the kickoff against Tennessee in December, there was little belief in the Buckeyes from a national perspective and only some belief in them even locally from fans and media alike. Now, the script is flipped, and no one is doubting these Buckeyes now as the clear overwhelming favorite to win a national championship this season.
When the bracket was announced, we estimated Ryan Day would have to beat Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and whoever emerged from the other side of the bracket to silence critics and win a national title. We also added a run like that should earn him a statue in Columbus.
Well, he’s halfway there, and already bested the best team (on paper) he’ll have to get through to hoist the trophy.
Texas has its warts on the field of late, but is no slouch from a talent perspective and will be playing essentially in its backyard on the Cotton Bowl. The Ohio State bandwagon is quickly filling up, but the Buckeyes can’t stop playing at the level they’re brought the past two games if they want to keep it rolling.
Before we get into the rest, we have to take a quick moment to give Oregon some flowers. The Ducks were the only FBS team to have a perfect regular season, would have been in the national championship game if we were in the BCS era and likely would have played for a national title if the four-team playoff were still around. But this is the inaugural year of the 12-team field, so their dreams will have to wait at least another year. You also can’t help but feel a little bit bad that an undefeated team’s reward in its first playoff game is a matchup with the best roster in football, but we’re aware we’ve beaten the CFP-seeding-is-messed-up horse to death lately.
