The new 12-team College Football Playoff has been anything but boring. With the first three matchups being decided by multiple scores by the favorites, Ohio State had to follow suit. And follow suit it did. The Buckeyes came into the College Football Playoff First Round matchup licking their wounds from an embarrassing loss to Michigan. Rather than wallow in self-pity and listen to the outside noise, Ryan Day’s squad stepped up and shellacked the Tennessee Volunteers, 42-17.
Now, a date with the number-one team in the nation, Big Ten Champion, and 13-0 Oregon Ducks await.
Ohio State Smacks Tennessee, Earns a Rematch at the Rose Bowl
Maligned Unit Steps Up
In the lead-up to this game, the Ohio State offensive line was under the microscope. Losing Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin looked to be a death knell and Will Howard was going to be running for his life all game.
As it turns out, the Buckeyes may have found its answer at left guard, and the line, as a whole, won this game.
Austin Siereveld and Luke Montgomery took turns at left guard and both played well. Montgomery took advantage of the most significant playing time of his young career and was actually the one paving the way for a few rushing touchdowns.
Ohio State pulled its starters with just over nine minutes to go and the starting unit allowed just two pressures and allowed no sacks. The unit completely neutralized the strength of the Tennessee defense. As a whole, Tennessee only managed five tackles for loss.
There’s no way Ohio State smacks Tennessee around without the play of this offensive line. It kept Howard clean and allowed him to complete 24 of 29 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns. It also created holes and allowed TreVeyon Henderson (10 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns) and Quinshon Judkins (10 carries for 34 yards and two touchdowns) to run free.
In the rematch against Oregon, the offensive line is going to need to continue this trend. While it only allowed one sack and three tackles for loss in the first round against Oregon, it had to deal with the loss of Simmons. Now, it’s been able to recover after losing not just a top left tackle but the Rimington Trophy winner and consensus All-American.
Feed Your Playmakers…A Revolutionary Concept!
Against Michigan, Ohio State forgot that it had NFL-ready wide receivers and did not let either running back play in space. Against Tennessee, it did just that. Jeremiah Smith had another Superman game as he hauled in six passes for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns. the six-foot-three true freshman showed off his already-developed route-running ability and was able to run free at every turn.
Emeka Egbuka was right behind him with 81 yards off five receptions.
Instead of trying to beat Tennessee at its own game, Ohio State played Ohio State football. It stretched the field and trusted its skill players against Tennessee’s secondary. In just about every instance, those skilled guys won.
Looking ahead to Oregon, the offense wasn’t an issue. It accumulated 467 yards and scored four times. 326 yards and two touchdowns were through the air. Howard’s accuracy was on display for yet another 80-plus-percent completion percentage performance (82.7%). Both of his touchdowns to Smith were perfectly placed dots where Smith didn’t have to break stride. He will need more of that, just as before, if he wants to upset the top-ranked Ducks.
Trends Broken
For Ohio State, it was business as usual and it felt like any old Big Ten matchup against Indiana or Michigan State. The offense managed a total of 473 yards, good for the fourth-best this year. Interestingly enough, it amassed six more yards than it did against Oregon in round one.
Those 473 yards were the most that Tennessee had allowed all year. Heading into this game, the most the Volunteers’ defense allowed was 453 in the loss to Georgia and was averaging 278 yards allowed per game. Tennessee had the fourth-best total defense and routinely dominated its foes up and down its schedule.
Over the first three quarters, Ohio State punted once. The other two non-touchdown-scoring drives were due to an interception in the end zone and a missed 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half. Tennessee allowed more than 23 points just once this year and that was in the 31-17 loss to Georgia. Ohio State scored 35 points in the first and third quarters alone.
Defensively, the Buckeyes had even more success. Cody Simon led the way with 12 tackles yet again and the unit forced four sacks and six tackles for loss. The defensive line had Nico Iamaleava scrambling every other play, resulting in the redshirt freshman quarterback logging 20 rushing attempts for 47 yards and two short touchdowns. His previous single-game career high was 12 rushes.
In total, Tennessee’s offense had two back-to-back good drives against the Ohio State starting defense, which allowed the Volunteers to pull to within 11. Those two drives resulted in 10 points off 25 plays and 141 yards.
Excluding the garbage-time touchdown drive against the third-string Buckeye defense, Tennessee’s other drives resulted in a grand total of 47 yards.
Even with the final 73-yard drive, Tennessee’s offensive output was its worst all season. The previous season’s low was 312 yards against Florida. Ohio State held the Volunteers’ offense—an offense averaging 463 yards per game—to 256 yards.
Smelling Roses
Much has been done about Ohio State’s potential path through the College Football Playoff. After hosting Tennessee, the Buckeyes head West to the Rose Bowl to take on Oregon. Then, there’s a possibility that the Buckeyes face Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. Then, a possible matchup with Georgia in Atlanta.
Day’s team will take it one game at a time. Oregon is up next.
Last time around, Ohio State gave the Ducks everything they could handle. It was the closest game Oregon had to play all year and there were plenty of moments Ohio State could have taken the win.
The last time Ohio State played in the Rose Bowl, it was that 48-45 classic win over Utah. The last time Oregon played in the Rose Bowl, it was an incredible 28-27 win over Wisconsin. These two have faced off three times in the postseason with two matchups in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State is 3-0 in such matchups. However, history is just stories at this point. Oregon has won each of the last two matchups against Ohio State.
The stage is set. January 1, 2025, 5:00 P.M. EST, Pasadena, California. Oregon vs Ohio State.
