Can Buckeyes hang with the Dawgs?
When Ohio State walked off its home field on Nov. 26 having suffered a humiliating 22-point defeat to Michigan, it had no reason to expect another chance at the College Football Playoff. But the dominoes fell just right for the Buckeyes to land the No. 4 seed, a fortunate reprieve for a team that would have had to consider this season a failure without a chance at the national title.
“It took a different road to get here, but we’re here,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said.
The only problem with taking the wayward path, though, is that it has led Ohio State into a semifinal against defending national champion Georgia, the top seed, that will be played in the Bulldogs’ home away from home at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Facing Georgia anywhere this season would be remarkably difficult. Despite losing a record 15 players to the NFL draft, the Bulldogs have pretty much been just as dominant, playing just one close game all season and capping off their SEC title with a 5030 walloping of LSU. But trying to beat them in that building, where they enjoy a massive crowd advantage, is a next-level challenge that only Alabama (2017, 2021 seasons) and LSU (2019) have been able to overcome.
“When you get to this point, this is what you’re going to do,” Day said. “You’re going to be in these type of environments. If you said at the beginning of the year you get a chance to be in the CFP and play in Atlanta against Georgia down there, defending national champs, of course you’d cut off your right arm for this opportunity.”
There’s another lens, however, through which to view this Peach Bowl. Despite Ohio State’s seeding, Georgia likely got a much tougher semifinal matchup than No. 2 seed Michigan, which will face TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.
Though there’s more to any program’s success than just recruiting, Ohio State is the rare team that has stacked up blue chips at a rate similar to the Bulldogs. Year in and year out, they swim in the same pool of talent. This is a rare semifinal where the size/speed quotient is relatively even across the board.
Despite the Buckeyes’ Michigan flop, they have more than enough to challenge Georgia and win if they hit on all cylinders.
“Most of these kids, they all know each other,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “They got recruited by the same schools. They went to the same all-star games. It makes for a great talent matchup. I know NFL teams really enjoy watching these kids go against each other.”
But for the Buckeyes to make it a competitive game, their No. 2ranked scoring offense will have to solve a Georgia defense that allowed just 12.8 points per game, stuffed the run against pretty much every team it played and racked up 26 quarterback sacks.
With arguably the country’s best wide receiving corps, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud could find weak spots in the Georgia secondary, which got exposed by LSU for 502 passing yards in the SEC title game. But earlier in the season the Bulldogs held a highpowered Tennessee offense to 195 passing yards by taking away the deep ball and getting pressure with Jalen Carter, who might be the nation’s most destructive defensive lineman, and linebacker Nolan Smith.
Smart usually likes to play conservatively if he thinks he has a game under control. But his team is as explosive as anyone when it needs to be.
Georgia’s biggest potential pitfall is turnovers (10 fumbles lost, six interceptions thrown). But otherwise, Ohio State will need to play almost a perfect game.