Maybe that seems fatalistic, but it also seems pretty logical. If Ohio State did not fix problems that were evident with the offense — especially after losing All-American center Seth McLaughlin prior to the Indiana game — the season would be over by midnight Saturday.
The Buckeyes did fix those problems, though, at least for one night, and now they get a chance for revenge against Oregon in the Rose Bowl less than two weeks from now.
Often times we are too quick to put down the loser in college football games these days, but this seemed more like a case of Ohio State flexing its muscles than Tennessee being exposed. UT was a solid team that couldn’t contain an Ohio State team playing at least close to full capacity.
- Kudos are due all around for the coaching staff making adjustments to the personnel and the personnel making it work.
- They couldn’t go out and get an all new offensive line, so they ran more stuff to play to their strengths. Anyone who was ever an undersized offensive lineman (raises hand) knows angles can be your best friend in the trenches. The Buckeyes embraced those Saturday night with a variety of counters and misdirection plays that created easier blocks to execute, and the running backs took advantage by exploiting them to create some explosive plays. Rather than pounding the rock until it broke, they carved out space to get around it.
- Ohio State also attacked down the field, finding one-on-one matchups for star receivers Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka and exploiting those. Again, this is great on paper, but the quarterback has to execute them by making the throws, and Will Howard did that.
- He still had a head-scratching decision that resulted in an interception , but overall it’s hard to play much better than Howard did. He spread the ball around, too, finding the tight ends when they were open and utilizing the running backs out of the backfield. Being able to line up and mash people is cool, but you have to do what your personnel allows, and Ohio State did that to perfection Saturday night.
- They also lined up in the I formation and powered the ball into the end zone inside the 5-yard line twice, so there was a lot to like overall.
- Kudos too to the Ohio State secondary. The defensive line has been coming on for a while with ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau raising their play to match the stout play of tackles Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, but the cornerbacks had remained a question mark even as the defense improved since being decimated at Oregon in early October.
- Safeties Caleb Downs and Lathan Ransom have also been very good all season, and that continued Saturday night while the linebackers appeared to play one of their best games.
- The whole Jim Knowles scheme really came together as they were able to put extra guys in coverage, change the picture for talented young Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and still avoid being gashed too badly on the ground without having to devote too many people to stopping the run.
- I had little faith in the Ohio State offense actually coming together like it did because, well, it hadn’t done so in 12 games, but that is exactly what happened.
- The fans also deserve a shoutout as that was a great atmosphere. I think the presence of thousands of Tennessee fans might have helped, inspiring the Ohio State fans to be louder and more intense, but obviously they also had a lot to cheer about.
Now going on the road to face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl, is that performance replicable?
That’s impossible to predict, but there is reason to believe it is. The Buckeyes will need to be at their best again, but until Saturday night, it wasn’t clear exactly what their best might actually be.
ROSE BOWL
Jan. 1, 2025
Ohio State vs. Oregon, 5 p.m., ESPN, 1410
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