There is no shortage of storylines, but here are a few things to ponder:
Northern college football fans have long wanted to see an SEC team play in the cold
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The CFP selection committee and Mother Nature appear set to deliver that with temperatures projected to be in the 20s around kickoff.
But what if the Buckeyes aren’t built to play in it?
I remarked in my initial preview of Tennessee that the Volunteers actually profile like the type of team Ohio State coach Ryan Day hinted he wanted his to be this season.
Previously known for its high-scoring offense and little else under head coach Josh Heupel, UT runs the ball, plays good defense and gets some plays from quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Ohio State has played good defense — most of the time — but the running game hasn’t clicked much, and quarterback Will Howard has made some critical errors.
The bottom line is the Buckeyes got whipped up front by Michigan’s defensive line, and questions remain about whether or not the OSU offensive line is up to the task this weekend or beyond.
Ohio State is 2-12 in the postseason against the SEC but 3-0 against SEC teams at Ohio Stadium
Neither of those stats have anything to do with this game, although many of the Buckeyes who will be suiting up against the Volunteers also endured the numbing 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl last season and the 42-41 heart-breaker against Georgia in the Peach Bowl two years ago.
It feels like some sort of history is going to be made Saturday night, though, right?
This has been one of the weirder seasons ever to evaluate for Ohio State football because the Buckeyes had such clearly defined high expectations that were reasonable — or at least it seemed that way.
Although high expectations have rarely resulted in actually winning it all for Ohio State.
With a big group of seniors coming back from a 2021 class that was ranked among the best in the nation when it signed, some (it turns out more than) supplemental pieces from the transfer portal and the extra motivation of having just missed beating the eventual national champion in 2022 and ‘23, the sky very clearly was the limit.
Beating a down Michigan team and winning the Big Ten seemed like the least they could do, but they came up empty in pursuit of those goals and admittedly had to have some hard conversations over the past couple of weeks to put that disappointment behind them.
Now last and hardest to achieve goal is still out there.
There’s a reason they play the games in real life, not on paper
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Here’s another piece of history that doesn’t necessarily mean anything this weekend other than provide another way to look at the game.
The 2014 Ohio State team entered December not looking like a national championship contender. They avoided losing to an inferior Michigan team, but the 42-28 victory was far from dominating.
The next time they took the field against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Buckeyes looked like a different team with a revitalized defensive line led by Centerville grad Michael Bennett and a new-look offense relying on explosive running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Cardale Jones getting the ball to speedy receivers down the field.
Whipping the Badgers 59-0 turned out to be a prelude to a national championship.
Ohio State pulled off a stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl/CFP semifinal then pounded f No. 2 Oregon to win the first College Football Playoff.
That was an unprecedented run.
Do these Buckeyes have something like that in them?
We’ll start to find out Saturday night, but here is a look at the 2025 schedule just in case.
So far this season has been more 1996 and 2014, but the ‘96 season did have a happy ending, too, with a win in the Rose Bowl over Arizona State.
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