Ohio State moves to head of class if it passes tough test against Georgia | Rob Oller
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Ohio State enters its College Football Playoff semifinal graduation ceremony against Georgia as salutatorian. But even at this 11th hour, valedictorian remains within reach. The Buckeyes simply need to beat the Bulldogs in their backyard Saturday in Atlanta, then take care of business against either Michigan or TCU Jan. 9 in the national championship game in Los Angeles.
Do that, and OSU finally moves to the head of its class. Fail, and it again finishes as the straight-A student who scores a 35 on the ACT, only to be outdone by the genius who scored a 36.
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As far back as I can remember – beginning in 1970, give or take a few years – it requires 10 fingers and one toe to count how many times Ohio State entered bowl season with a chance to exit with the No. 1 ranking. It only takes one hand to record how many times they succeeded: 2002 and 2014.
The Buckeyes need not apologize for their habit of finishing just behind the best and brightest; Ohio State stands front and almost center among college football’s elite, residing comfortably within the 90th percentile. But eventually, it gets old being Phil Mickelson passing through Tiger Woods’ shadow; to experience greatness without being able to enjoy being known as the greatest, as Alabama has for much of the past decade.
That’s why Saturday is another seminal moment in Ohio State history. As 6 ½ -point underdogs, the Buckeyes can flip the script by upsetting the defending champions. They would receive high praise for winning the Peach Bowl in a filled Mercedes Benz Stadium, with the majority of fans there rooting for the Bulldogs. OSU would put Alabama in their rearview mirror, at least temporarily, and would show the world the Big Ten can compete against the Southeastern Conference on the biggest stage. The next step would be to win the CFP national championship and give the Big Ten only its fourth natty since 1968. (Michigan is on a similar mission).
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For comparison, over that same stretch, the SEC has 20 national titles (counting CFP, BCS and recognized Associated Press and coaches polls), the Big 12 has 11, Atlantic Coast Conference seven and Pac-12 five. Clearly, the Big Ten is the C-student among that group.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, their rise to an even more elite level under Urban Meyer (83-9 with a 12-0 record in 2012 and national championship in 2014) coincided with Alabama’s dynasty run (four national titles since 2012) and Clemson’s emergence as 1a. It didn’t help that Clemson clocked OSU 31-0 in the 2016 CFP semifinal or that Bama crushed the Buckeyes 52-24 in the 2020 title game.
But forget about those two annihilations for a moment and focus instead on 2002 and 2014, which better mirror what the Buckeyes face this time. Ohio State was an 11 ½ underdog against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and a 7 ½ dog against Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl. Of the two games, the Sugar is closer to what OSU is confronting than the 31-24 double overtime win over the Hurricanes that secured the 2002 BCS title. Alabama was playing relatively close to home, and until then, the Buckeyes were 0-3 against the Crimson Tide.
The Buckeyes beat a very good, but not incredible, Alabama, 42-35, rallying from a 15-point first-half deficit to score 28 unanswered points. Quarterback Cardale Jones never again had to buy a drink in Columbus; Ezekiel Elliott’s “85 yards through the heart of the south” began appearing on T-shirts and Meyer was the toast of the town. Buckeye Nation was so exhilarated by beating Nicky Satan that the national championship game win against Oregon almost felt meh, like unwrapping a dozen golf balls on Christmas after already having opened a new set of irons.
The Peach Bowl feels a little like the 2015 Sugar. Atlanta is only 72 miles from Georgia’s campus in Athens, so the Bulldogs, who are 1-0 against OSU, will feel right at home. They also know the stadium well, having played eight games there. If Ohio State can win, it will be like scoring 35 out of a possible 36 on the ACT.
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Alas, for Buckeyes fans that is only the first step. The second would be to score a 36 by winning it all, preferably against Michigan. But The Game II would come with such a high risk-reward factor that the “easier” path would be taking on TCU.
Of course, losing to the Horned Frogs would return Ohio State to underachiever status. But first things first. The Buckeyes must successfully put the No. 2 pencil to paper against Georgia before they can face the pressure of being No. 1.
Deep breath, Buckeye faithful. The test is nigh.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football fights for football supremacy against Georgia
