The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes are set to take the field for the first time since the Big Ten Championship Game on Wednesday in the College Football Playoff at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The Buckeyes will square off against the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes, who outlasted the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station in the CFP’s opening round.
Even though Miami snuck into the playoff over Notre Dame, the Hurricanes are a dangerous team. Miami has tremendous athletes on both sides of the football, a veteran
quarterback, and they’ll have a lot to prove as they’ll enter the matchup with the Buckeyes as a 10-point underdog.
Today, we want to know what is most worrying about Miami for Ohio State fans. It could be a player or position group that could cause problems for the Buckeyes. Then there are numerous angles that stick out when it comes to the mental aspect of the game. Anyone who thinks it’s a given that Ohio State wins just needs to look at the run by the Buckeyes last year when they got hot at the right time.
Today’s question: What should worry Buckeye Nation the most about Miami?
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 defensive line of the Hurricanes
Ohio State’s offensive line had its worst performance of the season in the last game it played. Indiana’s defensive line caused Julian Sayin fits all game long, sacking the quarterback five times and registering 9.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. The damage the Hoosiers were able to do was surprising, considering how well the Buckeye offensive line had played in their first 12 games of the season.
The offensive line concerns for Ohio State were amplified when, last week, it was announced that Tegra Tshabola will be sidelined for at least the start of the College Football Playoff after the right guard underwent surgery following the Big Ten Championship Game. The Cotton Bowl will mark the first game since the start of the 2024 season that Tshabola hasn’t started. The Buckeyes will turn to Gabe VanSickle and Joshua Padilla to fill the void left by Tshabola.
Miami will enter the game against Ohio State coming off a performance against Texas A&M that saw them notch seven sacks of Marcel Reed. Rueben Bain Jr. was a force, as the defensive line finished with three sacks in the game. The junior defensive end now has 7.5 sacks this season.
Joining Bain is defensive tackle Akheem Mesidor. The Ontario native has loads of experience, as he is now in his sixth season of college football. Aside from 2023, when he redshirted, Mesidor has at least 4.5 sacks in his other five seasons. With Bain’s speed on the outside combined with Mesidor creating havoc, not many teams have found an answer for the pass rush of the Hurricanes.
If the Buckeyes can’t fix the issues on the offensive line that popped in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Cotton Bowl could wind up being a close contest. Julian Sayin struggled to get the football down the field against Indiana, neutralizing talented wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. Ohio State’s offense isn’t nearly as crisp when Sayin is rushed and doesn’t have time to work through his receiving options.
Matt’s answer: Miami’s redzone defense
Brett is obviously on the right track here. If we are being honest, there’s not much for OSU fans to be legitimately concerned about from Miami’s offense. Of course, The U always has talented skill players who can go off at any point, but when looking at the track records of Miami’s offense and the Ohio State defense this season, there’s no cause for lost sleep across Buckeye Nation at this point.
So, if you want to give yourself anxiety between now and New Year’s Eve, you should be looking at the times when Miami’s defense is on the field. And while Brett was right that Miami’s defensive line is likely to be a major challenge for the OSU’s injured and underwhelming offensive line, I am going to drill down a little deeper.
All Buckeye fans know that scoring in the red zone has been a struggle for OSU this year (and for most of Ryan Day’s tenure in Columbus outside of last season). Despite all of their firepower, the Buckeyes are ranked 42nd nationally in red zone conversions at 87.88%, turning trips inside the 20 into touchdowns on only two-thirds of their opportunities; and given Jayden Fielding’s big-game field goal kicking woes, Ohio State’s ability to score in short yardage is even more amplified.
Unfortunately, Miami’s D is very good with its back against the wall. The ‘Canes have allowed only 15 red zone touchdowns this season, the seventh fewest in the FBS season. Given how good Miami’s defense is, Day and the Buckeyes can’t afford to waste opportunities close to the goal line. Brett has already detailed how strong the Canes’ defensive line is, so Day — now back to calling plays with Brian Hartline splitting time setting up his program at USF — will need to get back into his bag and pull out some of the short-yardage creativity that has been seemingly lacking this season.
Julian Sayin and company will also need to lock in and execute at a level that they haven’t this year. Of course, much of that revolved around red zone play calling, where the two best skill players on the field were often afterthoughts in favor of third and fourth-string tight ends. If the Buckeyes want to maximize their offensive potential, they can’t give away prime scoring opportunities, and Wednesday against Miami is the first opportunity for Day et al. to prove that they have put the past three+ weeks to good use.
