The Ohio State Buckeyes outperformed almost everyone’s expectations on Wednesday, beating the No. 1-ranked Oregon Ducks 41-21 in the Rose Bowl from Pasadena, CA.
They certainly earned their trip to Arlington, TX, for the College Football Playoff semifinal, a battle in which they will take on the SEC’s Texas Longhorns.
While players like Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith went off for the Buckeyes offense, Cody Simon played a drastically important role on the other side of the ball, and for his performance, he has been named the Defensive Player of the Game.
Simon ended with a team-high 11 tackles, seven of which were solo, and had two sacks to go along with those. Simon played an important role in the success of the defense, a unit that allowed zero points through the first 29 minutes of the game.
𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞: @Cody_Simon30 🔒 pic.twitter.com/LVuxANeAJ2
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 2, 2025
Simons has been a focal point of this defense for years, ending the last four seasons with over 30 tackles in each. This year, he had a career-best 97 tackles and seven sacks.
His numbers across the board were the best of his five-year career, and his dominance should only continue to increase as the stakes grow higher. Expect another massive performance from him in the CFP semifinal.
