The Ohio State football team is putting together the final touches of its preparations for the massive clash in Atlanta. The Buckeyes will take on the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and the winner will get a chance to play for all the confetti and trophies in the College Football Playoff national championship game a week later in SoCal.
After the second-half meltdown against Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend, not many are giving Ohio State much of a chance of knocking off the defending national champions, but we’ve seen this before (Alabama in 2014, Clemson in 2020, and Miami in 2002).
Can the Buckeyes shock the world and pull off the upset in Mercedez-Benz Stadium, or will it be another disappointment to bookend the lackluster effort vs. Michigan?
Here at Buckeyes Wire, we believe this should be one whale of a game, and give you five reasons why Ohio State can take care of business and take home the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl trophy on New Year’s Eve.
So, let’s get to it …
Talent Equality
Why It Matters
There are three teams many consider as having the most talent in college football this season. There’s Alabama which didn’t quite put things together this season, defending champion Georgia, and Ohio State. We used to be able to put Clemson in that category but we’ve seen a bit of a decline in personnel the last couple of years.
Those three teams have recruited among the top more consistently than other programs and it means they have stockpiled talent to continue to play at a high level and be in the conversation for the College Football Playoff.
That means OSU can go toe-to-toe talent-wise with Georgia, just like it can with anyone else. These two teams have been vying for the same players coming out of high school and bump into each other often in recruiting circles, and now it’ll happen on the field Saturday night.
The talent is there to spring the upset, we’ll just have to see if the execution, motivation, and gameplan match.
Ohio State's Passing Attack
Why It Matters
The last time we saw Georgia play, it was giving up over 500 passing yards against an LSU team that is ranked just the 37th-best at slinging it around this year. Georgia has a very, very good defense — some would say the best in the country — but there are some opportunities throwing the ball and that’s where Ohio State’s bread has been buttered in 2022.
OSU’s offense has sputtered a little down the stretch at times through the air, but anytime you have C.J. Stroud, Marvin Harrison Jr., and the rest of the receiving corps (not to mention Cade Stover at tight end), there’s going to be an ability to move the ball and score points.
Ryan Day and staff can’t abandon the run, but you can bet the game plan will center around moving the ball down the field by cashing in air miles on Saturday night. There should be plenty of success in doing so.
Second Life
Why It Matters
We’ve seen it before. Just when Ohio State thought its season was dead after losing to Michigan on November 26, it was given life with USC’s loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship game and the opinion of the College Football Playoff Committee.
There’s something about getting a second life after thinking all goals were off the table. We saw the same thing from Georgia last year, and in some ways got to see Ohio State do similar things in 2014 when it squeaked into the first CFP. The type of scenario we’re looking at for Ohio State can often result in renewed focus, great preparation, and an attitude of “us against the world.”
I’ll be really surprised if Ohio State doesn’t show up in this one and at least make this thing an entertaining and interesting game with renewed life.
Lessons Learned from the Michigan Game
Why It Matters
Georgia has a similar makeup as Michigan, just with better talent. The Bulldogs like to lean on the running game and then pick spots through the air. It’s all centered around stout defensive play.
Ohio State spent almost all of its game planning, scheming, and efforts toward stopping the run vs. the Wolverines, and it resulted in big plays through the air that put OSU in comeback mode. It all felt like going too far against a team’s strength in return for giving up too much on the back end.
I don’t think you’ll see the same type of deal against Georgia. The scheming and playcalling will be a little more balanced on defense, and there won’t be so many big plays. In some ways, the contest against Michigan was a good primer for this game, and while Ohio State failed that test miserably in the second half, it will have learned from it and made adjustments.
Remember, OSU outplayed Michigan in the first half and just didn’t cash in on opportunities that could have made the flow of the game very, very different.
A Healthier Ohio State
Why It Matters
We know Ohio State will be without TreVeyon Henderson because of a season-ending surgery, but Miyan Williams will be back and healthy, despite dealing with a stomach bug. Tackle Matthew Jones has also been practicing and will be close to — if not — 100%. Apparently, tight end Cade Stover was also playing hurt, so he’ll be an important weapon that’s more effective against an aggressive Georgia front.
OSU also had a banged-up secondary throughout the season, and having a healthy Cam Brown, Jordan Hancock, Denzel Burke, etc. can only help in terms of putting a lid on the passing game that was torched by the colors of maize and blue.
Ohio State is still going to be without Henderson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but it’ll look more like midseason OSU than the M.A.S.H. unit we saw down the stretch.
Time to Prepare
Why It Matters
Lost in all the disappointment of this year and the two-straight losses to Michigan is the fact that Ryan Day and his staff have been very, very good when given extra time to prepare for an opponent. Since taking the whistle from Urban Meyer, Day has a 5-1 overall record when given more than one game week to prepare.
The lone loss was the one to Clemson in 2019, but you could easily make the case that Ohio State got the raw end of some breaks in that one and outplayed the Tigers with a very good game plan.
So, what are the scores and who did Day and OSU beat during that run? It’s pretty impressive actually:
| Year | Opponent | Result |
| 2019 | at Northwestern | Win, 52-3 |
| 2019 | Clemson (CFP Fiesta Bowl) | Loss, 23-29 |
| 2020 | Clemson (CFP Sugar Bowl) | Win, 49-28 |
| 2021 | at Indiana | Win, 54-7 |
| 2021 | vs. Utah (Rose Bowl) | Win, 48-45 |
| 2022 | vs. Iowa | Win, 54-10 |
| 2022 | vs. Georgia (CFP Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl) | TBD? |
Now, that’s enough to be a trend, so you have to like the ability of the OSU staff to put together a plan to be successful and productive. We’ll see how it all plays out on New Year’s Eve.
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