The stage is set, at least the first act, and with all the anticipated points of debate. So much to digest, when all people want is to just watch the show. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
No. 2 Ohio State will face No. 10 Miami on New Year’s Eve in Arlington, Texas. Lots will be said about it. But most of it we already know, or can pretty accurately assume.
For the past two weeks, news out of the Ohio State football team has been as quiet as a church mouse. But creatures have been stirring in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
The Buckeyes took some time off to reflect on and study all that went wrong against Indiana. Because Ohio State isn’t supposed to lose to Indiana even when the basketball school hires a miracle-working coach. And, to a man, the Buckeyes know that, hate it and regret it.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best in area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.
So, the week after was certainly filled with deep breaths followed by resolve to not let another loss – especially to Indiana should the opportunity materialize – blemish a season in which the Buckeyes were ranked No. 1 in every poll between the first one and the last one.
I, of course, haven’t been to the Woody. I have no spies, no drones sneaking peeks, no nothing. But the Buckeyes have been working late and keeping the DoorDash drivers busy. That much we can assume.
Yet, no amount of work, no amount of talent, no amount of game-planning can guarantee the No. 2 Buckeyes are about to embark on a 3-0 playoff the way they went 4-0 a year ago. But they surely are capable.
That brings us to Monday with more than 40 hours of film study and game-planning for No. 10 Miami behind them. And when players and head coach Ryan Day emerge from sequestration, they will say all the things that tickle your ears and give you confidence heading into the New Year’s Eve Cotton Bowl. They’re good at that, at being positive, at not tipping their hand.
Prepare to hear the Indiana game is behind them…or is it?
They will say:
That the Indiana loss is behind them.
That the Indiana loss created the same resolve as the Michigan loss did a year ago.
That they must – and will – execute better in key situations, in short yardage and in the red zone because that’s what cost them against Indiana.
That Ryan Day likes “the look in their eye.”
That the offensive line will come together in every way necessary for Julian Sayin and his weapons to score touchdowns and not kick field goals. (They better, or those Miami defensive ends will be a storm surge.)
That Brian Hartline is not distracted, that he is managing his time well, that his new job at USF is old news and not a distraction to players.
That Miami is a really good opponent, one that will challenge the Buckeyes in numerous ways.
The Precision Strip Company, in Minster and Troy, proudly sponsors the best Buckeyes coverage on Press Pros.
That Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are healthy and practicing every day.
That their defense is still great, too great for quarterback Carson Beck to keep the Miami offense on the field.
If all goes well…trust it, it’ll be better than anything that happened ‘up north’.
You get the idea. But many scribes and TV personalities will be logged into the remote video interview sessions, asking obvious softball questions with a couple of hardballs mixed in only to be deftly fouled off by Day and players alike. Then all that was said will be dutifully reported for consumption.
And – in a mile-wide, inch-deep sense – we will know what we already know.
No gossip, no bulletin-board material, nothing outrageous. Just what we already know, plus how and where some of the players will spend Christmas.
Day will tell us this team’s story is unfolding, being told a week at a time. And when the season ends, we will know the story, the pain and joy it took to get to wherever it ends, and, most of all, the ultimate result.
Logan Services, in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, proudly sponsor the best in area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Allenbaugh Insurance, in Jackson Center, supports the Buckeyes on Press Pros Magazine.
In the end, as Sonny Fulks told me recently, “Everyone just wants to watch the games.” And, I’ll add, decide for themselves how and why the Buckeyes won or lost.
Yet, we like to talk to anyone who shares our interests about the Buckeyes. We value the opinions we share and receive … sometimes. We speculate how it will play out. The team, as it should, focuses on the doing while fans focus on the hoping.
Deep breath time, scarlet and gray lover.
If this season ends the way the Buckeyes expect, the way the fans hope for, the way most experts predict, there will be a story like none other than has ever been told about Ohio State football.
A first back-to-back national championship run.
A defense full of stars, most of them first-year starters, mentored by a former NFL defensive coordinator with Super Bowl rings.
A redshirt freshman quarterback who was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
A group of four consensus All-Americans named Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese and Kayden McDonald.
A running game that took most of the season to get out of the station.
Remember how you felt when this happened…? It all begins again in ten days, on New Year’s Eve.
A group of blockers who played their best when they had to.
A list of NFL first-rounders and draft picks that might go down as Ohio State’s best draft class.
A lifetime pass for Ryan Day to coach Ohio State as long as he wants.
All these chapters, ones that would help write the ultimate story that concludes January 19 in Miami, are what we know now.
Should a championship come to pass, what will be the playoff bedtime stories? Last year gave you first-half blowouts of Tennessee and Oregon, Jack Sawyer’s scoop and score that derailed Texas and that fourth-down Will Howard-to-Jeremiah Smith pass that spoiled Notre Dame’s comeback.
It all begins in 10 days on New Year’s Eve in Ohio State’s third straight trip to the Cotton Bowl. So relax for now, enjoy Christmas and have a happy new year no matter what transpires in the vastness of AT&T Stadium.
It’s only a game. Right?
I know better. Those creatures have been stirring at the Woody to make sure you wake up in 2026 with plans to travel to the desert or watch the Fiesta Bowl on your big screen.
That’s the news you crave.
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.