Ohio State on Fire! That's right the Ohio State Buckeyes are the hottest team left in the college football playoffs as they prepare to play Texas in Friday's Cotton Bowl. However their regular season ended with a thud as they lost to arch rival Michigan. That loss, their second of the year also kept them out of the Big Ten championship game. Maybe Michigan fixed the Buckeyes. Since then Ryan Day's team embarrassed Tennessee and Big Ten champion Oregon in their two playoff games.
Now they seem unstoppable. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith could possibly play in the NFL right now. In two playoff wins he has 13 catches for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns. His quarterback Will Howard is completing passes at a 72 percent clip since joining offensive coordinator Chip Kelly a year ago. In his previous four years at Kansas State he was a 59 percent passer. What a difference!
OHIO STATE ON FIRE
But the problem for the Texas defense is going to be Smith down field. However his counterpart, Emeka Egbuka is also a future NFL talent. And if the Longhorns focus solely on the Buckeyes passing game, Ohio State has two future NFL running backs in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins to deal with.
The Buckeyes defense has played at an elite level. Even in the loss to Michigan they only gave up one touchdown and 13 total points. The entire Buckeyes defensive line will be in the NFL soon and if they get in the backfield that could spell trouble for the Longhorns. Quarterback Quinn Ewers is a pretty good passer but he is not the most mobile QB. That could prove problematic in the Cotton Bowl.
Friday night we will see if we can still say Ohio State on fire. The winner of the Cotton Bowl will take on the winner of the Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame January 20th in the college football national championship. For all the latest college football playoff talk and analysis tune in each weekday to Craig Shemon and Company from 2-6 on ESPN Southwest Florida.
