Tide’s offensive firepower just too much for Buckeyes
Sometimes you get beat because the other guy is just that much better.
Or in the case of Alabama, the other guys, plural — although for 30 minutes on Monday night in suburban Miami it appeared that Crimson Tide receiver Devonta Smith might outscore Ohio State all by his lonesome.
Regardless, the better team won. The much better team. Play 10 times and the Buckeyes maybe win two. Three, if things fall exactly right. The Tide showed it is a worthy champion by clocking OSU 52-24.
There is no shame in Ohio State losing to Nick Saban — now with seven national titles overall — and an Alabama offense that ranks among the best ever. The Crimson Tide rolled up 389 yards the first half alone (and 621 overall), more than OSU totaled for the game (341).
Allowing 52 points is unacceptable, and for many scarlet and gray devotees depressingly unwatchable, but dropping chin to chest meant not seeing a performance as pretty in its perfection
as it was painful for those on the wrong end of it.
Regardless of allegiance, this was electric entertainment for those who relish high-octane offense — 60 minutes of Fast & Furious and silencing the old-school saying that defense wins championships. That notion no longer
holds, not when two teams with elite playmakers — and, in the case of Alabama, exceptional play-calling — show up to see which can hang half a hundred on the other.
Let’s be clear, Alabama got the better of the Buckeyes not because Ohio State is overrated but because the Tide might be underrated, even at 13-0. You will watch years of college football before finding another quarterback/running back/receiver trio that executes as well as Mac Jones, Najee Harris and Smith.
Smith was spectacular, catching 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. By halftime. And in case anyone thinks the Heisman Trophy winner is a one-man show, that without him ‘Bama is merely human, the Crimson Tide scored 17 points after Smith injured his right hand 30 seconds into the third quarter and did not return.
Shudder to think what the score might have been had he played the entire game. Poor Tuf Borland. If there were a meme for what happened in Hard Rock Stadium it would be the Ohio State linebacker struggling to cover Smith on a 42-yard touchdown pass late in the first half. It was like watching an unnatural nature show in which the lumbering elk chases the wolves.
Certainly, OSU’S pass defense needs work — it ranked 122nd among 127 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in yards allowed per game — mostly because it lacks both the NFL first-round pass rusher and lockdown cornerback it has been spoiled with the past six seasons.
The Buckeyes’ defense looked powerless to stop Alabama’s offense. Usually, it’s Ohio State that has the clear speed advantage over opponents. The roles were reversed in this game.
Talent prevailed, and the Crimson Tide simply had more of it. Factor in that its coach, Nick Saban, might be the best in college football history, and that’s how 52-24 happens.
Under Meyer and now Ryan Day, the Buckeyes have recruited at a higher level than ever. But one program has consistently recruited at a higher level — Alabama.
In recent cycles the gap has closed, at least on paper, and Monday’s game should provide more incentive on that front.
As disappointing as the performance was for the Buckeyes, it doesn’t erase all that was accomplished this season, starting with the fact that there was one.
Without the push by Ohio State and aided by Nebraska and Iowa, the Big Ten almost certainly wouldn’t have reinstated the season after canceling it in August. The Buckeyes essentially put themselves in isolation for the season in an attempt to fend off COVID-19. It was only partly successful. Three games were canceled, though only the Illinois game was due to Ohio State cases.
Ohio State played its final four games without key pieces. Against Alabama, the Buckeyes were without defensive linemen Tommy Togiai and Tyreke Smith, as well as kicker Blake Haubeil. The uncertainty and stress of never knowing from day to day who would be available never abated.
Yet the Buckeyes never flinched. They were tested only by Indiana and Northwestern in Big Ten play, and then avenged the defeat that haunted them for an entire year. The 49-28 victory over Clemson in the CFP semifinals was proof of what this Buckeyes team could be.
Then Alabama showed the gap that still remains at the very top. The 2014 Ohio State team beat the Crimson Tide on the way to the inaugural CFP title, and the Buckeyes hoped they could repeat that magic.
The good news is that Smith, Jones and Harris and others are off to the NFL, and masterful offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is headed to Texas to coach the Longhorns. Alabama will re
main the team to beat, but it shouldn’t be as imposing next season.
And hey, Saban is 69. He’s not going to coach forever, though his expiration date, as Dabo Swinney might say, doesn’t seem to be near.
Day is only 41, though this year felt like a dog year. The Buckeyes also will lose plenty from this year’s roster. Fields is almost certainly headed to the NFL, as are
many of the other leaders on and off the field. Ohio State’s four top linebackers are seniors.
Next year’s quarterback — C.J. Stroud, Jake Miller or incoming freshman Kyle Mccord — will not have thrown a collegiate pass entering the season. Day’s quarterback-whispering skills will be put to the test.
For now, though, the most urgent thing on the Buckeyes’ agenda is nonurgency.
“We need a break,” Day said. “We need to get away. We’ve already started to put together the schedule for the spring, but we all need to get away for a while. This has been a long, long road. Guys miss their families, and they deserve time to be with them.
“We’ll unwind for a little while, have an opportunity to reflect on what the season has been, and then get back into it. But you can’t just go back into work here. You need some time to rest and reflect.”
When the Buckeyes do, they’ll look back on an unprecedented season that no one would want to repeat, but one that ultimately showed the strength of the program, even if the final hurdle proved too high.
“What these guys have learned and what our coaching staff has learned and this whole program has learned about what our culture is all about, I’m very, very proud of that,” Day said. “For the guys who were in the locker room who are going to be coming back, they have something to motivate them in the offseason, that feeling coming off the field.
“We felt that way coming off the field last year against Clemson. Now we feel that way coming off the field against Alabama. We’re going to use that as a motivation.” brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch