The second defining game of Ohio State’s season has arrived.
Ohio State’s first defining game of the year didn’t go well. The Buckeyes were outscored 28-3 in the second half by Michigan to lose their rivalry game for the second year in a row, suffering a 45-23 defeat that kept them out of the Big Ten Championship Game for the second straight season.
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| GEORGIA BULLDOGS |
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13-0 (9-0 SEC) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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8 P.M. – SATURDAY, DEC. 31 PEACH BOWL ATLANTA, GA |
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ESPN WatchESPN |
Had that loss also knocked Ohio State out of the College Football Playoff, it would have stamped the Buckeyes’ 2022 season as a disappointment, no matter what. But the Buckeyes now have a chance to rewrite the story of their season when they play Georgia in the CFP semifinal at the Peach Bowl on Saturday.
“If we weren't able to get this opportunity, it'd be heartbreaking,” Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. “But since we got put in, and rightfully so, it's new life. We've got another chance. And our biggest goal is still achievable. So we're just looking forward to beating Georgia and moving on.”
As the No. 4 seed in this year’s CFP, Ohio State enters Saturday’s game against the top-seeded Bulldogs as nearly a touchdown underdog, marking the first time in two years the Buckeyes have entered any game as an underdog. But that hasn’t stopped Ohio State from achieving playoff glory before.
Ohio State was the No. 4 seed in the inaugural playoff in 2014 when it upset No. 1 seed Alabama in a semifinal and followed that up with a national championship game victory over No. 2 seed Oregon. The Buckeyes were also an underdog for both of their CFP games in 2020 when they defeated No. 2 seed Clemson in the semifinals before falling to No. 1 seed Alabama in the national title game.
That history gives Ohio State reason to believe it can pull off another upset this weekend, though that certainly isn’t going to come easily.
“You can look at the rankings and see that we're No. 4 and look in the past and see what the past No. 4 Ohio State team did,” said Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. “But at the end of the day, Georgia is a phenomenal team. They're 12-0. It's hard to go undefeated on a season. And they're the No. 1-ranked team right now.”
The Headlines
Elite offense vs. Elite defense
Only one team in college football has scored more points per game than Ohio State this season (Tennessee). Only one team has allowed fewer points per game than Georgia (Illinois). The Buckeyes have scored 44.5 points per game this year while the Bulldogs have allowed only 12.8, but something will have to give when they meet Saturday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
When Ohio State played a similarly elite defense against Michigan, the Buckeyes failed to perform up to their usual standard, scoring only two touchdowns for the entire game. They realize they will need to do much better than that to beat Georgia, given that the winning team has scored an average of 39 points per game in the first eight years of the CFP.
“Everything's gonna have to be on point, execution is going to have to be on point, game plan will have to be on point,” Ryan Day said after the Buckeyes made the CFP. “I think about the game we played against Clemson, we had 49 … So you're gonna have to score points against a team like this. That's for sure.”
Georgia’s defense has been particularly dominant against the run, holding opponents to an average of 76.9 rushing yards per game. The Bulldogs held all of their regular-season opponents to 22 points or fewer. They looked more vulnerable in the SEC Championship Game as they allowed 30 points and 502 passing yards against LSU, but given that the Bulldogs had held opponents under 200 passing yards per game before then, Ohio State isn’t expecting anything to come easily – not that it should have to for as offense as talented as the Buckeyes’.
“Obviously LSU did what they did, and they came into battle and played their game. We just have to go out there and play our game,” Marvin Harrison Jr. said. “We have confidence in ourselves and how we're going to make things work and go out there and compete.”
Defense looks to bounce back
While Ohio State’s defense was far better for the first 11 games of the season than it had been for the past two years, that wasn’t the case against Michigan, as the Buckeyes allowed the Wolverines to score six touchdowns and gain 530 yards on 8.83 yards per play, the most ever allowed by Ohio State in a single game.
Ohio State needs to have fixed its mistakes to perform better against Georgia, whose offense will present similar challenges to Michigan. Like the Wolverines, the Bulldogs like to lean heavily on their running game – which ranks seventh nationally with 5.53 yards per attempt – but also have a capable passing game led by a Heisman finalist quarterback (Stetson Bennett), two star tight ends (Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington) and the nation’s second-most productive receiver among running backs (Kenny McIntosh).
“I think they're just very similar,” safety Lathan Ransom said of comparing Georgia to Michigan. “They're gonna establish the run, take shots when they're there and then get the ball into their best players’ hands.”
Specifically, Ohio State needs to avoid giving up the back-breaking explosive plays it repeatedly allowed against Michigan, who scored five touchdowns of 45 yards or longer against the Buckeyes. That effort starts with Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who will need a better game plan to stop Georgia after the Wolverines exploited the Buckeyes loading the box to stop the run.
“It's explosive plays, really, what it came down to,” Knowles said. “You have to look at those on an individual basis, determine what the issue was on that particular play, hold myself accountable for it. If it was a problem with the scheme, the players understand it. We deal with those as a defense together, you know, because those are the critical factors in winning the game.”
Stroud seeks a signature win
While C.J. Stroud is statistically one of the greatest passers in Ohio State history, his legacy has been a hot topic of debate over the past month after he lost to Michigan for a second straight year. Even though his play wasn’t a primary reason why Ohio State lost either of those games, he also didn’t have an exceptional performance in either that could have led the Buckeyes to a win and made him a Heisman Trophy winner.
Had that game been Stroud’s last game as a Buckeye, the signature win of his Ohio State career would have been his record-breaking 573-yard, six-touchdown game in last year’s Rose Bowl against Utah – which, while historically great, doesn’t hold as much weight as it would have if there had been a championship on the line. If Stroud can lead the Buckeyes to a win with a prolific performance against an elite Georgia defense, however, he’ll cement himself as one of Ohio State’s all-time great quarterbacks.
Stroud has downplayed the notion that his performance in any one game should define his legacy. Still, it’s the reality that his performance in the CFP – in which he will likely play the final one or two games of his Ohio State career before moving on to the NFL – will play a big part in how Ohio State fans remember him.
More importantly, though, Stroud wants to beat Georgia and give Ohio State a chance to play for a national championship.
“Really just as a team, I think that's been the real focus of getting better as a team. It's a team game,” Stroud said. “I don't go out there by myself and do it on my own.”
C.J. Stroud can erase questions about his Ohio State legacy with a big game against Georgia. (Photo: Paul Abell/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl)
Keep An Eye on These Guys
DT Jalen Carter
Even on a defense full of future NFL players, the clear-cut star is Carter, who some consider the best defensive lineman in all of college football. A 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle, Carter can be an absolute game-wrecker with his ability as both a run-stopper and interior pass-rusher.
After he was hampered by an ankle injury early in the season, Carter has re-emerged as a dominant force over Georgia’s past five games, in which he’s recorded 23 total tackles with seven tackles for loss and three sacks.
Projected to be a top-five overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Carter will give Ohio State’s interior offensive line its biggest test of the season.
“He's very explosive, very disruptive. He's in the backfield a lot. So you gotta know exactly where he is all the time,” Day said. “Plays really, really hard, plays with good leverage. One of the best tackles in the country, one of the best football players in the country. And you can see it. He's very, very productive. So it'll be a big challenge for our guys up front. And we'll have to know exactly where he is.”
TE Brock Bowers
Georgia’s most dangerous player on offense is Bowers, who won the John Mackey Award this year as college football’s best tight end. He’s the Bulldogs’ leading receiver for the second straight year, catching 52 passes for 726 yards and six touchdowns in Georgia’s first 13 games of 2022 after catching 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman in 2021.
A 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end who is more like a receiver athletically but also a strong blocker, Bowers is a player who Ohio State will need to have eyes on at all times. In addition to his skill as a pass catcher, he’s also been dangerous when used as a runner, gaining 93 yards and scoring three touchdowns on just six total carries this season.
If Ohio State can limit Bowers’ impact on the game, it will have a chance to slow Georgia’s offense down, but the Buckeyes’ safeties will have to be at their best in coverage to make that happen.
“You just gotta think about, when you're going against him, is that he's a really athletic tight end. So stuff that they probably wouldn't do on other teams with the tight end, they're doing it with this tight end, using him as a receiver,” Ransom said. “And I think that just kind of changes your mindset just a little bit.”
RB Kenny McIntosh
Another player Ohio State’s defense must account for every snap he’s on the field is McIntosh, who leads the Bulldogs with 709 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on just 137 carries this year and has also caught 37 passes for 449 yards, the second-most receiving yards by any FBS running back this year behind only Northwestern’s Evan Hull.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior has an excellent combination of speed, agility and power that makes him a tough player to tackle in space, and he’s one of the most gifted pass-catchers from the running back position in college football, which makes him a big potential X-factor for Georgia’s offense on Saturday.
“With the back that's really dangerous out of the backfield, I think you just gotta be prepared for it,” Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers said. “Just like in the back of your mind, know that he can get out (in space as a pass catcher) at any point.”
Game Week Talk
“Me personally, I'm glad we get to play them in Atlanta, in their kind of home arena. I’ve always liked being the villain or underdog going into big games, so I’m excited to be able to do that.”– Marvin Harrison Jr.
Georgia will almost certainly have the home-field advantage playing in its home state, but the Buckeyes say they aren’t going to let that bother them. Harrison is embracing it, saying “I always thought it was Ohio against the world, even before this game, so nothing really changes.”
“We're going to play fast in this game. We gotta play violent in this game. We gotta execute at a high level, and that's what it's going to come down to. What we're not going to do is play it close to the vest. We're going to go, and then our guys are going to play that way and have that mentality when they walk in that stadium.”– Ryan Day
Throughout the month leading up to the Peach Bowl, Day has reiterated that he expects his team to play loose and aggressive rather than tight and tentative against Georgia. After the Buckeyes seemingly did the latter against Michigan, he recognizes that Ohio State has to play with confidence and can’t be afraid of failure if it’s going to pull off the upset over the Bulldogs.
“I look at tape, and the tape doesn't say they're a soft football team. I know how they practice. I know what players they have. I watch the tape. I know how physical they are. We don't get caught up in narratives.”– Kirby Smart
While the “soft” tag that some threw at Ohio State last year has popped up again after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the second year in a row, neither Georgia’s head coach nor its players gave any indication that they view Ohio State that way. Smart also said Ohio State has “probably the most talented roster that we will have played against.”
| Ohio State | Pos | Georgia |
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| OFFENSE | ||
| C.J. STROUD | QB | STETSON BENNETT |
| MIYAN WILLIAMS | RB | KENNY MCINTOSH |
| MARVIN HARRISON JR. | WR | MARCUS ROSEMY-JACKSAINT |
| JULIAN FLEMING | WR | LADD MCCONKEY |
| EMEKA EGBUKA | WR/TE | BROCK BOWERS |
| CADE STOVER | TE | DARNELL WASHINGTON |
| PARIS JOHNSON JR. | LT | BRODERICK JONES |
| DONOVAN JACKSON | LG | XAVIER TRUSS |
| LUKE WYPLER | C | SEDRICK VAN PRAN |
| MATT JONES | RG | TATE RATLEDGE |
| DAWAND JONES | RT | AMARIUS MIMS |
| DEFENSE | ||
| ZACH HARRISON | DE | TRAMEL WALTHOUR |
| TY HAMILTON | NT | ZION LOGUE |
| TARON VINCENT | DT | JALEN CARTER |
| J.T. TUIMOLOAU | DE/JACK | ROBERT BEAL JR. |
| STEELE CHAMBERS | WLB | JAMON DUMAS-JOHNSON |
| TOMMY EICHENBERG | MLB | SMAEL MONDON JR. |
| TANNER MCCALISTER | NB | JAVON BULLARD |
| DENZEL BURKE | CB | KELEE RINGO |
| CAMERON BROWN | CB | KAMARI LASSITER |
| RONNIE HICKMAN | S | MALAKI STARKS |
| LATHAN RANSOM | S | CHRISTOPHER SMITH |
Get Smart
- Ohio State is 3-3 all-time in College Football Playoff games and 2-2 in CFP semifinal games.
- Saturday’s game will be just the second all-time meeting between Ohio State and Georgia. The Bulldogs won the only previous game between the two programs when they defeated Ohio State in the 1993 Citrus Bowl.
- Ohio State is 5-10 all-time and 2-2 in postseason games when playing a No. 1-ranked opponent.
- Ohio State has won its last 11 games after a loss. The Buckeyes haven’t lost back-to-back games since they fell to Michigan State and Clemson in their final two games of 2013.
- Ohio State’s roster includes four players from Georgia: starting linebacker Steele Chambers, backup cornerback Jordan Hancock, freshman wide receiver Kojo Antwi and freshman tight end Bennett Christian.
- Georgia has no players from Ohio on its roster.
- Ohio State’s status report of players who will be unavailable for Saturday’s game is scheduled to be released at 6 p.m. Saturday.
- The winner of the Peach Bowl will play the winner of Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl (Michigan or TCU) in the national championship game on Jan. 9 (7:30 p.m.) in Los Angeles.
How It Plays Out
Line: Georgia -6.5, O/U 62
While Ohio State enters the Peach Bowl as an underdog, that certainly doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of beating Georgia. When Ohio State is at its best, it’s capable of beating anyone in the country, led by its high-powered offense and a defense that still ranks in the top 13 nationally in both points and yards allowed per game.
The reason why Ohio State is an underdog entering this game is that we haven’t seen the Buckeyes play at their best consistently. They certainly didn’t play at their best the last time they took the field for a game. If they couldn’t rise to the occasion to play their best football in a game they had been anticipating for 52 weeks, there’s reason to question whether they are primed to tap into their highest level of play against Georgia.
Georgia’s pass defense certainly looks vulnerable enough that Stroud, Harrison, Egbuka and the rest of Ohio State’s passing offense should be able to make plays. Still, the Buckeyes will also need to be able to establish the run against a defense that’s stifled pretty much everyone on the ground. Defensively, Ohio State needs to prove its early-season success wasn’t simply a result of beating up on bad opponents, as Georgia has averaged more yards per game than anyone OSU has played and more points per game than any Buckeye opponent except Michigan.
If Ohio State can play well in all phases of the game, it has a real chance to pull off the upset and advance to play for a national title. If both teams play the way they have in big games so far this season, however, Georgia will likely come out with a win – and potentially a convincing one.
As a staff, we at Eleven Warriors expect Ohio State to play better than it did against Michigan and keep Saturday’s game competitive, enough so that we don’t think Georgia will cover the spread. However, most members of our staff predict Georgia will ultimately win the game by a close margin to advance to its second straight national championship game and hand Ohio State its second straight loss – marking the first time since Ohio State’s 2020 CFP semifinal win over Clemson that a consensus of the 11W staff has predicted a loss for the Buckeyes.
| Eleven Warriors Staff Prediction | ||||
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31 | 35 |
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