IN ANOTHER LEAGUE
Ohio State overcame a lot this season, but couldn’t match up with Alabama
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — So, what to make of a bizarre Ohio State football season and a night when the Buckeyes’ ultimate dream crashed against a clearly superior opponent? It speaks to what they accomplished, and how far they still have to go.
There is no shame in losing the College Football Playoff championship game to Alabama, particularly this version of the Crimson Tide, which will be remembered as one of the best ever in college football.
Devonta Smith, Mac Jones and Najee Harris are as good a skill-position combination as there has been. The supporting cast, including the defense, is virtually weakness-proof. It would have taken a near-perfect performance for Ohio State to have beaten Alabama, and even that might not have done it. The Buckeyes didn’t come close in a 52-24 loss Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Perhaps the die was cast on the first play from scrimmage. Ohio State’s best hope was to use late-blooming running back Trey Sermon to chew up chunks of yardage, take the load off a less-than-healthy Justin Fields and limit the number of Alabama possessions.
Sermon was injured on his first carry — shades of Ted Ginn Jr. being injured in the celebration of his kickoff return for a touchdown against Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators 14 years ago in another title game that didn’t go well.
Without Sermon, who got on a historic tear late in the season, the Buckeyes weren’t the same offense. Fields couldn’t duplicate his six-touchdown performance against Clemson. He missed some throws, but the pass protection wasn’t as solid and receivers weren’t as open as they were against the Tigers. Again, credit Alabama.
“That’s one of the better offenses in college football in a long time.”
But against most teams, including a not-too-shabby Clemson in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, the overall defense was solid. Alabama’s offense is simply that good.
“That’s one of the better offenses in college football in a long time,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said, adding that trying to match Alabama point for point took a toll. “There’s a feeling that if you don’t score, the pressure mounts.”
Oh, to have been a fly on the locker room wall at halftime as Ohio State defensive co-coordinator Kerry Coombs plotted a strategy to slow the Crimson Tide. The plan mostly failed, but to be fair it had to be like stopping a tsunami with one sandbag.
How is Buckeye Nation taking it? Already there is some harrumphing as fans see in this loss shades of the debacle in the desert after the 2006 season, when after posting a 12-0 record through the regular season the Buckeyes fell apart in losing to Florida 41-14 in the BCS championship game in Arizona.
Bah. Are there interesting similarities? Yes. Just as the Buckeyes lost Ted Ginn Jr. on the opening kickoff return for a touchdown against Florida, OSU lost tailback Trey Sermon on its first play from scrimmage against Alabama. Jus
Ryan Day
Ohio State coach, on Alabama
tin Fields did not look 100% following his hip injury against Clemson. Likewise, Troy Smith struggled following a Heisman hangover that saw his weight balloon as he made his way through the awards circuit. And the coaching strategy in both games seemed scattered.
But where the 2006 Buckeyes were favored by a touchdown against the Gators, the 2020 Buckeyes were 81⁄ 2- point underdogs who would have needed to play like they did against Clemson to hang with Alabama. Hang they did — it was 21-17 with 5:21 left in the half — before the Tide hung 14 points on them to make it 35-17.
Some will make the excuse that Ohio State lost due to attrition, including Sermon and starting defensive linemen Tommy Togiai and Tyreke Smith, both unavailable for reasons thought to be related to COVID-19 testing.
Again, bah. Alabama was just better. And it has little to do with Ohio State playing only eight games to the Tide’s 13. Tip your cap and be thankful the Buckeyes got this far in a season when a virus was the second-toughest opponent. roller@dispatch.com @rollercd