(Photo: The Ohio Podcast)
College Football Playoff- Semifinals
(8) Ohio State Buckeyes at (5) Texas Longhorns
Ohio State: They have been on a mission since the College Football Playoff started and Out of everything I have seen up to date, they have looked the best out of every other team I’ve seen play since this tournament started on December 20th. Against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round, they established the tempo of the game in their favor. They bottled up the Volunteers running game and dared Nico Iamaleava to beat them and the young Quarterback couldn’t answer up to the challenge. What caught my eye was the Rose Bowl, a place they have come to love to play and I was wondering how they would approach their rematch with the top-seeded Oregon Ducks. In their regular season meeting, anytime the Buckeyes scored, Oregon would match them and punch back. That was far from the case on New Year’s Day in Pasadena as anytime Ryan Day’s group attacked and scored, they made sure to keep the Ducks and their offense down with their stellar defense. Will Howard had forever and a day to throw, the running game was clicking and Jeremiah Smith had his way with this Oregon secondary. He reminds me so much of Julio Jones when I watch him play. On the other side of the football, Jim Knowles couldn’t have called a better game as the defense consistently put Dillon Gabriel under pressure throughout this game and threw him off his spot. This is the Buckeyes team I’ve been waiting to see and when they play this way, there’s not a single team in America that can beat them. With a win tonight, they will be in their first National Title game since the 2020 season.
Texas: For most of the season, I was saying they were one of the best teams in the country. It was their first season in the SEC and they handled themselves well to be in the conference dominated by the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs. My biggest gripe with this football team is their inconsistent play at times and to be honest, I’m still frustrated with how they lost to Georgia in the SEC title game. Their offense truly lost them the game and the former defensive player in me cringes because you couldn’t have asked for a better effort from the Texas defense that day and to see a performance such as that get flushed down the toilet will never sit well with me. I didn’t particularly care for what I saw from them against Clemson in the first round, but I will say when they get their running game going with Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner, this is a better offense. Even in the second-round playoff game against Arizona State, the Longhorns got off to a better start but got complacent and it almost cost them. Thankfully, their defense was able to come to the rescue and picked off Sam Leavitt for them to advance. They are back in the Semifinals of the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive season and will be looking to advance to their first National Title game since 2009, but for that to happen, they must take down a red-hot Ohio State Buckeyes team.
Ohio State X-Factor: J.T. Tuimoloau– You down with JTT, yeah you know me! This is an Ohio State defense with several stars, but most importantly, veterans across the board and J.T. Tuimoloau is one of those guys. He is their best pass rusher and has that impact that if he can get downhill, everyone else can also get home to the Quarterback. At 6’5 and 270 pounds, he plays with the speed of a Linebacker playing downhill and always looking to attack the football. Jim Knowles lines him up on either side on the edge and he makes his mark. If J.T. makes a big impact, this will be one of the reasons why the Buckeyes will get to Atlanta on January 20th.
Texas X-Factor: Jahdae Barron– This is one of the best Defensive Backs in the country and he will need to show why tonight, especially against this offense that has been clicking on all cylinders. Jahdae is versatile and he can play inside in the slot or primarily outside on the perimeter. His approach is simple: See the ball, attack, and go after the ball. He’s an energy guy for this Texas defense and plays all over the field from making tackles in the run game to attacking the flat in space or dropping back in coverage. It’ll be interesting to see how Texas uses him tonight.
Final Thoughts: Notre Dame and Penn State was a line of scrimmage showdown and it was a physical street fight. Tonight, this is going to be a track meet as the football will be flying up and down the field throughout this game. Ohio State has been playing motivated football since the College Football Playoff started and Texas hasn’t yet tapped into its full potential. This is a home game for the Longhorns as the game will be in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium. The biggest key for Ohio State will be to make life difficult for Quinn Ewers and I say this because when he’s under pressure, he can fold and will start to press and struggle which means he will get rid of the football just to avoid taking the sack. Next, Ohio State must disguise its coverages because Quinn is a solid Quarterback when he has time in the pocket so mixing things up in the secondary will be a key for them. I’m excited to watch two of the best defenses in the country square off here. For Texas, the running game must get jump-started early and often as Steve Sarkisian’s offense can operate much better when the ground attack is clicking for them. How will Texas play Jeremiah Smith? Oregon played a ton of man coverage and paid the price for it. If Ohio State gets their offense rolling, all eyes will be on Texas to see how they respond because they have an unfortunate tendency to stall and not capitalize on opportunities. I like Ohio State to get to Atlanta for a showdown with Notre Dame on January 20th.
Prediction: Ohio State 37, Texas 27