Ohio State: Journey to being champs
Arguably the most impressive college football playoff run we will ever see! (even with the two losses)
The National Champions were crowned last night as The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Atlanta. This is a relief for the Buckeyes as they haven’t won a title since 2014 under Urban Meyer. They managed to go 14-2 on the season while knocking off five top 5 teams, and two other teams ranked in the top 10. The Buckeyes are now the only team in history to have won a BCS championship, 4-team National Championship and the 12-team championship. Granted, this is the first rendition of the 12 team format. Ohio State was able to win the first renditions of both playoffs and continue to build their overall program resume.
At the beginning of these playoffs the Buckeyes were questioned as they have “the most expensive roster in the country” but, they ended up under achieving in the regular season. The regular season ended in a loss to their biggest rival as 19 point favorites. Head coach Ryan Day was scrutinized the most as he has had arguably the most talented roster in the country for a couple of years now. The Buckeyes and Day were not able to win when it mattered most. The pressure at Ohio State is indescribable and when the Buckeyes don’t bring championships home to Columbus you can face a lot of scrutiny. Everyone in the country, even in the state of Ohio, seemed to have written off the Buckeyes after they didn’t win a conference championship and suffered a loss to their rival. Many believed they shouldn’t have been invited into the 12
team playoff.
Ryan Day and his Buckeyes soon put all the critics and negative statements to rest as they played Tennessee at home in the first round. They ended up tearing them apart and earned some of their fan bases hope and support back. The next game they had to travel to Pasadena and play the number one undefeated team in the country. Many believed that it was a one game fluke against Tennessee and that they wouldn't be able to defeat the Ducks. They were wrong, as they were able to avenge their loss from earlier in the regular season as they dismantled Oregon. Along the way the Buckeyes were doubted but, going into the semi final game against Texas they were favored and basically penciled into the national title game according to the majority of folks. This can be tough on a team and it puts even more pressure on the Buckeyes. The Longhorns were fortunate that they got to be the underdogs and basically having home field advantage as the game was in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State ended up winning this game, but they did not look as dominant as the previous two games. They looked beatable for once in the playoffs and this adds more pressure for the final game of the season. Last night the Buckeyes played aggressive, relentless and physical. No matter who was on the other side of the field the Buckeyes were not going to allow another team to hoist that trophy.
Ohio State really benefited from the new playoff format. In previous years you would not be able to lose two games in a season, let alone one game. This format allows teams to have an off week and grow throughout the season. The resilience the Buckeyes were able to display in these playoffs was arguably the reason they were granted so much success. All of the draftable players that decided to come back for one last year, the transfers they got in the portal, the recruits and even the NIL donations. This year really was “natty or bust” as Ohio State pushed in all of their chips to get to this moment. Ryan Day and his team went through so much adversity throughout this season. They fought through injuries, losses, and most importantly media and negativity. But, no one stood in their way, they all worked extremely hard for this result and they deserve credit. Now that the game is over and they are champions, Ryan Day has a weight lifted off of his shoulders. He still needs to beat Michigan next year but I believe this playoff run taught him a lot. Just trust your players and play to your strengths. It was able to win you a national title. Why can’t it work in the regular season? Next year the Buckeyes will turn over a new page in their story book as they will be faced with a lot of roster turnover. The Buckeyes will be fine as they always replenish talent and have their two best players in Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs coming back. This national championship will change the whole outlook of the program moving forward.
