Ohio State's Playoff Prospects & Big 10 Championship Review

SportsGrid

Watch Ohio State's Playoff Prospects & Big 10 Championship Review - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Yeah, let's take a look at Ohio State.

00:02They don't play this weekend.

00:03They'll get the winner moving forward of a second-round matchup.

00:08But give me your thoughts about what you saw transpiring

00:10in the Big Ten Championship game with Ryan Day.

00:13This was potentially the best defense in college football.

00:17They still held Indiana to only 13 points,

00:21well under their season average.

00:23What did you see about that performance in Indiana

00:26just a couple of weeks ago?

00:27And can Ohio State basically win back-to-back national championships

00:32with the personnel that they have entering this playoff?

00:36Oh, absolutely they can.

00:37They've got a great defense, the best defense in the country.

00:40They've got a quarterback that's done a lot of pullways,

00:43great, talented quarterback.

00:44They probably don't run it as well as they did last year.

00:47They don't have the running backs they had last year.

00:49But they are a team that is good in almost every area.

00:53And then when you play Indiana and you lose by three,

00:56that's probably the difference in these two teams.

00:58Three points one way, three points the other way.

01:00So again, I think Ohio, I think we'd have to say Ohio State

01:03probably next to Indiana are the top two teams in the conference.

01:07That's why they were ranked one and two.

01:09And you talk about wide receivers,

01:11Carnell Tate and obviously Jeremiah Smith,

01:14the best maybe one-two combo in college football.

01:17You talk about the running backs not as dynamic as Quinshawn Junkins

01:21and Travion Henderson, but Bo Jackson has emerged as a freshman phenom.

01:26CJ Donaldson, a between-the-tackles type of runner

01:30that is utilized in goal-line opportunities.

01:33Talk to me about Julian Sane.

01:35Battle-tested, didn't win the Big Ten championship game,

01:38but have you seen, I want to say, a competitive aspect and an upside

01:43where Sane potentially can lead this team just the way Will Howard did last year,

01:48averaging 289 passing yards per game in the college football playoff

01:53with eight touchdowns and only two interceptions?

01:57Yeah, I mean, he and Mendoza are like 1A and 1B.

02:00They're that close together.

02:02Talented, very talented quarterback.

02:04You know, you might say they don't run the ball.

02:06They don't have to.

02:07They throw it at such great receivers.

02:08And he does such a great job with his, what is he throwing, 80% completion percentage?

02:13One of the tops in the country at completion percentage.

02:17And so it's one, he has all the ingredients that they need also.

02:21They know what they're doing.

02:21They've got a quarterback that I think has got them right there.

02:25Every game they play, he plays a good football game.

02:28And the defense keeps them so, it keeps them in every game early on in the games.

02:34Yeah, obviously, Ohio State will play a second-round game.

02:39We'll talk about that next week.

02:41The other team to mention is the Georgia Bulldogs.

02:44They get a first-round buy.

02:46They win back-to-back SEC championships for the first time since 1982.

02:52This team has really emerged basically in the home win in the second half against Ole Miss.

02:57They trailed the first half of that matchup 21-16 in the second half.

03:02Their defense shut down Trinidad-Chambliss.

03:05They're hitting on all cylinders with Gunner Stockton in that offense.

03:09But it's really been the defense coach over the past four games of the regular season

03:13that is really peaking into this playoff run.

03:17And that's what you want to happen if you're going to be good in the playoffs or in postseason.

03:21Your defense needs to be peaking.

03:24They need to get a little better pass rush.

03:25They're not as good as they should be probably in pass rush, putting pressure on a quarterback.

03:29But they are a team I think Kirby Smart is probably the best seasoned postseason coach there is.

03:36He makes the best on-the-field adjustments.

03:38He has his team peaking at the right time.

03:40And they're another team that there's not a whole lot of weaknesses to this team.

03:43I don't think they're maybe as strong on every area as their national championship teams.

03:48But it's awful close.

03:49I don't think it's a big deal.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended