Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
We have had a little bit of time to soak in Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame on Monday night, securing the ninth national championship in school history. Much like back in the 2014 season, the Buckeyes became the first team to win an expanded playoff. 10 years ago was the first year of a four-team playoff, while this season was the first year of a 12-team playoff. By tripling the playoff field, Ohio State played 16 games for the first time in school history.
By losing to Oregon and Michigan during the regular season, the Buckeyes weren’t able to qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game, assuring the team that they would need to play four playoff games if they had designs on closing out the college football careers of Jack Sawyer and the rest of the returning seniors on the ultimate high note. How Ohio State and Ryan Day responded to the embarrassing loss to Michigan is a testament to the toughness of the team.
Today we are going to look at the memorable games for Ohio State during the College Football Playoff. There was the first-ever December home game for the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in the first round, the Rose Bowl rematch with Oregon, a battle with Texas in enemy territory at the Cotton Bowl, and ending with the national title game against Notre Dame. We want to know which game during the run is most memorable.
Today’s question: Which game during Ohio State’s CFP run is most memorable?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: The Rose Bowl victory against Oregon
When we look back at the 2014 run after J.T. Barrett was injured in the Michigan game, which game is most memorable? Everybody remembers the semifinal win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. After beating the Crimson Tide, beating Oregon in the title game felt like it was a given. Much like Notre Dame did on Monday, the Ducks scored first 10 years ago in the championship game before the Buckeyes responded with a dominant performance. Not saying the Fighting Irish had no chance to win the game, it was just obvious Ohio State was the better team in the game.
For me, I’ll remember the Rose Bowl victory more than the other three games in Ohio State’s playoff run. Oregon not only was the only undefeated team left in the country, they had already beaten Ohio State by a point in Eugene when the teams matched up in October. I figured we would be in for another game that was going to come down to the last possession. With the way the bracket was setting up for the Buckeyes, I thought if they could beat the Ducks in Pasadena, all they had left were two very winnable games.
Photo by CFP/Getty Images
I have a soft spot for the state of Oregon since my dad and uncle live in the southern part of the state. I was even out vacationing in the state while the Buckeyes and Ducks played in October, spending a weekend at a sportsbook in Coos Bay. My dad and his neighbor, who is a huge Oregon fan, actually went down to the Rose Bowl. Unluckily for them, Ohio State came out firing in the game, erasing any doubt pretty much by the end of the first quarter. It felt like every other play the Buckeye defense had Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel on the ground.
Not only did Ohio State win the Rose Bowl handily, a couple of days ago I got a little Rose Bowl swag since my dad sent me a shirt from the game, as well as a Buckeye hat. I guess I deserved that a bit since I was on the losing end of things when it came to Ohio State when I spent 10 days out in Oregon in October. The win over Notre Dame was obviously great since we got to enjoy a national title, but just for banter with friends and family in Oregon, the Rose Bowl will take the cake for me when it comes to the Buckeye CFP run this season.
Matt’s answer: The first-round win over Tennessee
I mean, in all honesty, we would probably be picking “All of them,” right? But if you’re asking me which one was most memorable to me, it was the first one. Coming off of the loss to Michigan, I think many of us in Buckeye Nation were unsure of what to expect from the team and coaching staff. Of course, they all said the right things and were seemingly singularly focused on the task — and opportunity — at hand, but we didn’t know for sure that we would see improved game planning, play calling, or execution.
So, when the Buckeyes opened the first quarter of their first playoff game of the season by scoring 21 points against an SEC team whose fans had spent two weeks talking all sorts of nonsensical trash about how they were going to take over Ohio Stadium, how they were a superior team because of the “rigors” of their conference (a conference that went 8–7 in bowl games and 2-3 in the CFP, compared to the B1G’s 11-6 and 6-3), and a bunch of other garbage, it was gratifying and relieving to see the Bucks play like we all knew they were capable of.
That first touchdown pass from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith on the first drive of the game was the most happy and joyful I had been since Nov. 30 and to see Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson follow it up with scoring runs just felt like it lifted a ton of weight off my shoulders as a fan.
Obviously, the performance that Ryan Day’s team exhibited over the past month was about so much more than removing the existential dread that fans felt about the state of the program, but when it comes to which game I am most going to remember, that plays a huge role for me… but of course, I’m also going to remember the wins over Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame for the rest of my life too, so maybe just “All of the above”?