The Hodgepodge: Ohio State Essentially Clinches CFP Berth, Opportunity for Revenge Against Michigan Has Never Been Sweeter, SEC Wets the Bed and Ruins CFP Hopes for Some

By Garrick Hodge on November 25, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Ryan Day
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Welcome to The Hodgepodge.

We can now confidently declare that Ohio State is going to the College Football Playoff, regardless of what happens within the next two weeks.

Sure, that’s like, the absolute bare minimum this team should accomplish given the talent level and preseason expectations for this squad. But I’m old enough to remember when Ohio State barely squeaked out a win against Nebraska following the Oregon loss and message boards were TENSE heading into Penn State week.

So on some levels, being one of (probably) three teams guaranteed to be in the postseason should disaster strike Saturday (Oregon and Texas being the others) is an accomplishment of sorts.

The Buckeyes got there by completely exposing and dismantling Indiana, 38-15, a score that’s actually a lot closer than it should have been factoring in the early failed fourth-down conversion and a fluky red zone interception. 

From most of the Ohio State fan interaction I’ve read, opinions are mixed on Indiana coach Curt Cignetti. Some are in the camp that yes, while he’s extremely boastful and a little off-putting, he’s great for the sport, a fun quote and he boosts the health of the Big Ten overall by severely raising both the floor and ceiling of an often dismal Indiana program. I can unapologetically admit yours truly is of this opinion. 

Others think Cignetti is arrogant and needed a lesson in humility following declarations that Ohio State sucks and “I win, Google me.” We can all safely guess what camp Ryan Day and the rest of the Ohio State team were in. I don’t blame them either.

On the Buckeyes’ last drive of the game, TreVeyon Henderson graciously slid at the one-yard line to allow Ohio State to run out the clock. Will Howard credited Henderson for “being a better man than me” in his postgame press conference, and punched one last touchdown in with less than a minute remaining to run up the score, likely under Day’s direction. 

Howard had a little fun with the final touchdown, saying “Google that” on the sideline and mimicking putting out a cigarette as a fun retort against “Cig.” 

Both the late touchdown and Howard’s smack talk sure fired up some Indiana faithful over the interwebs. There were even plenty of postgame angles written about it from the Hoosiers’ perspective. 

Objectively, it was a completely unnecessary talking point for two reasons.

  1. One of the biggest lessons everybody learns in life: Talk shit, be prepared to get hit.
  2. Indiana fans have zero room to be upset over running up scores, the Hoosiers have gone out of their way to pile on points against overmatched opponents all season late in games when it was unnecessary. 

For the record, Cignetti is seemingly not among those who took issue with OSU’s late touchdown. Asked about it in his postgame press conference, he matter-of-factly stated Day has to do what he has to do for his team and left it at that. He sounded like a man who was aware all too well of points No. 1 and 2 and took zero issue with Indiana having to be on the wrong side of those issues for the first time all season.

Either way, both of these teams appear playoff bound and have bigger and better things to worry about. Especially Ohio State, with the most anticipated game of its season now approaching.

Ohio State spotlight of the week: Revenge

As we said in the intro, Ohio State has clinched a playoff spot regardless of what happens within the next two weeks. What we did not say, is that any thought of losing to this Michigan team mired in mediocrity is even remotely acceptable.

Ask any of Ohio State’s seniors that returned for another season over entering the NFL draft why they came back. All of them will tell you at least part of it was to beat Michigan and end the pain endured over the last three seasons. 

As everyone reading this site surely knows, the three Michigan wins came with the cloud of a major sign-stealing scandal hovering over it, with coincidentally enough the deadline for the Wolverines to respond to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations passing on Friday. 

Perhaps a major hammer is coming from the NCAA to Michigan in the near future. Or maybe the punishment will be far less than what OSU fans hope it will be. Either way, Ohio State can’t control what the enforcement offices of the governing body do to its arch rival. 

What it can control is how severe the on-field punishment is on Saturday. The Buckeyes are close to a three-touchdown favorite against the Wolverines and I can’t imagine there will be any need to motivate the players to get up for this one. 

Michigan’s defense is still talented enough to cause some disruption to Ohio State, especially in the interior. But best of luck to the Wolverines’ offense moving the ball against the Buckeyes. 

Michigan did land the commitment of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, who some are already billing as a can’t miss, otherworldly talent. Perhaps he is, perhaps he isn’t. Either way, he ain’t walking through that door Saturday.

If the interwebs took issue with Ohio State running up the score against Indiana last week, I don’t even want to know what they’ll say if the Buckeyes have the opportunity to openly embarrass the Wolverines late in the game if the score is lopsided. Because there isn’t an OSU fan, player or coach in sight that doesn’t want this to be as ugly as possible if given the chance.

The SEC wets the bed and soils any argument for an abundance of CFP berths

Throughout the whole week, the SEC faithful were chirping about how embarrassing it was that Indiana was ranked ahead of various SEC teams and may get in over a “more deserving” fifth or sixth squad in the Southeastern Conference. 

In hindsight, it probably would have behooved them to worry less about Indiana and more about the teams actually on their schedule. The Hoosiers went from screwed to safely in the field within a matter of hours, as three contending SEC teams completely wet the bed on the road despite being heavy favorites. 

Ole Miss fell to Florida 24-17, which has been resurgent under freshman quarterback DJ Lagway. The Rebels saw their playoff hopes disappear with quarterback Jaxson Dart trying to be the hero and instead throwing an interception in triple coverage.

Jalen Milroe threw three interceptions, completed less than 50 percent of his passes and the Alabama run defense was nowhere to be found in a 24-3 humiliating defeat to Oklahoma. The Sooners hadn’t beaten an FBS opponent since September, by the way. 

Texas A&M fell behind Auburn 21-0, came back to tie the game, allowed the contest to go to overtime and eventually lost in a battle of two-point conversions. That one isn’t necessarily a death blow to the Aggies since their all-important showdown with Texas this week determines who plays Georgia in the SEC title game, but it still objectively was a disaster of a Saturday night for Texas A&M.

Week 13 also had some other notable moments

  • Penn State was flirting with disaster, going back and forth with Minnesota on the road. A loss would have put a dagger in the Nittany Lions’ hosting hopes and possibly playoff hopes. Yet, leading by one, Big Game James has the stones to call this fake punt with less than four minutes left in the game which resulted in running out the clock. 
  • Arizona State won a crucial Big 12 battle against BYU 28-23, but not without controversy. Trying to run out the clock, the Sun Devils’ quarterback threw a long pass out of bounds on fourth down, but there was still one second remaining when the ball landed. That didn’t stop Arizona State fans from storming the field anyway, much to the dismay of the officials. Following the review, the officials had to clear the students off the field, taking about 20 minutes or so of real time. BYU attempted a Hail Mary on the final play and completed the pass, but it fell one yard short. Could you imagine the disaster if the Cougars would have converted it? Anyway, Arizona State stormed the field again after that.
  • Iowa State also got into a taffy pull with Utah, because would you have it any other way in the Big 12? The Cyclones kept their Big 12 title hopes alive, though, beating the Utes by a field goal.
  • Colorado, woof. The Buffs controlled their own destiny entering the day, but got humbled by Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium and now will have to win and have a lot of help to make the conference title game. The Jayhawks are out here just ruining seasons the past few weeks.
  • Notre Dame completely obliterated poor Army and now the only thing standing in the Fighting Irish’s way of a playoff spot is a less-than-stellar USC team. The Fighting Irish have arguably the worst loss of any team this season but have made up for it by throttling pretty much everyone since falling to Northern Illinois.
  • SMU clinched a spot in the ACC title game in its first year in a power conference with a convincing win against Virginia.
  • Leading by one, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano called a timeout in an attempt to ice Illinois’ kicker attempting a game-winning 58-yard field goal. The kick was short and to the left, but the timeout had already been called. Illinois coach Bret Bielema saw that and thought it would be easier trying to go for it on 4th-and-13 with 13 seconds remaining. Somehow, Illinois walked off the field with a 40-yard game-winning touchdown instead.
  • USC barely took down its in-state rival, salvaging some dignity for this season and cementing a bowl game by beating UCLA 19-13.

And then there was one

Entering the final week of the season, only one undefeated team remains: Oregon. We’ll see if Ohio State can change that in two weeks assuming the Buckeyes can get past Michigan.

Playoff scenarios

I’ll go over it more in detail in Tuesday’s Playoff Pursuit article, but I think this is how I view CFP scenarios entering the final week.

In the CFP regardless of what happens: Ohio State, Oregon, Texas

Have to beat Purdue to get in, but the Boilermakers suck: Indiana

Have to beat your rival to get in and you’re favored against them: Tennessee, Notre Dame

Win and host, lose and you still might get in: Penn State

Ideal to beat your rival but you’re in the SEC championship regardless: Georgia

Have to beat your rival and then win the SEC championship: Texas A&M

Win would help at-large case but conference title bound anyway: SMU

Need to win to ensure you make the ACC title game: Miami

If these two teams win I think the winner next week gets the Group of Five bid: Boise State, UNLV

I’m not even gonna try: Insert Big 12 champion here

Will whine for a week but it doesn’t matter: Alabama, Ole Miss

Week 13 had some fun moments

  • This didn’t count, but it’s still awesome.
  • You always have to love defensive tackle pick-sixes.
  • For a while, Minnesota had Penn State in a blender. This play in particular was fun.
  • Also, who doesn’t love blocked extra points resulting in two points the other way?
  • Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza getting choked up after completing a comeback against Stanford and cementing a bowl game for his team is what makes this sport awesome.
  • Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo out here scoring touchdowns and signing autographs.
  • I can’t get over this reaction.

Week 13 had some whacky things too

  • Ouch.
  • The game went to hell for Indiana from here on.
  • Hell of a block by the ref here.
  • Just how they drew it up, USF defensive back edition.
  • I get it, Nebraska hasn’t been to a bowl game in forever, and ultimately it’s harmless, but it says a lot about how far the Cornhuskers have fallen that fans are storming the field after getting bowl eligible against this mediocre Wisconsin team.
  • Surrounded by a small army of fans, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham had a small meltdown when told there was still a second remaining and fans had to clear the field.
  • Jalen Milroe, it was not your day, buddy.
  • Oklahoma fans stormed the field with a whopping 28 seconds left, had to be cleared, then stormed the field again. The SEC charged Oklahoma twice for field storming, which is a pretty costly $200,000 bill! 
  • Not exactly the landing this Michigan State receiver had in mind.
  • Want to see a 45-yard loss for a safety in real time?
  • College kickers, man.
  • Not the Gatorade cooler.

Former Buckeye of the week 

Week 13 former Buckeye of the week: Jesse Mirco, punter, Vanderbilt

Punters are people too! Mirco is having a pretty solid year for the Commodores and delivered against LSU, albeit in a losing effort. The former OSU punter had four punts on the day and averaged 51.8 yards per kick. Not bad.

Now that we’re at the final week of the regular season, I’ll allow for there to be a repeat selection if need be for this week. In the championship week recap Hodgepodge, I’ll attempt to select a former Buckeye of the year.

Past results

Week Zero former Buckeye of the week: Mason Arnold, long snapper, Florida State

Week One former Buckeye of the week: Evan Pryor, RB, Cincinnati

Week Two former Buckeye of the week: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas

Week Three former Buckeye of the week: Mookie Cooper, WR, Missouri

Week Four former Buckeye of the week: Julian Fleming, WR, Penn State

Week Five former Buckeye of the week: Noah Rogers, WR, North Carolina State

Week Six former Buckeye of the week: Kyle McCord, QB, Syracuse

Week Seven former Buckeye of the week: Joe Royer, tight end, Cincinnati

Week Eight former Buckeye of the week: Cameron Martinez, DB, Boston College

Week Nine former Buckeye of the week: Bryson Shaw, safety, USC

Week 10 former Buckeye of the week: Enokk Vimahi, guard, Washington

Week 11 former Buckeye of the week: Reid Carrico, linebacker, West Virginia

Week 12 former Buckeye of the week: Parker Lewis, kicker, Arizona State

Games of the week

Great week of picking games on our end and now we’re down to the final stretch. One week of the regular season left, then championship week, then the postseason, so hopefully I can at least stay above .500. 

Week 13 record: 5-2

Overall record: 50-41

Appointment viewing

Michigan at Ohio State, noon Saturday on FOX

Pick: Ohio State -20.5

Breakdown: I have no doubt Michigan will give its best effort even in a down season, but I just can’t envision that offense doing much against the Buckeyes. Plus, Ohio State will certainly try to run it up on the Wolverines if it is in their power to do so.

Texas at Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Pick: Texas -5.5

Breakdown: Definitely the game of the week when you factor in both the hatred and stakes of the game. The winner goes to the conference title game. If Texas A&M loses, its CFP dreams are dead. Texas has some injury concerns at quarterback, but if Quinn Ewers can’t go Arch Manning is more than capable of beating the Aggies. Speaking of, the Aggies’ offense just looks like a lot of smoke and mirrors. Maybe a raucous Kyle Field is enough to overwhelm the Longhorns, but I don’t see it.

South Carolina at Clemson, noon Saturday on ESPN

Pick: South Carolina +2.5

Breakdown: The Gamecocks have been playing well as of late. I think their pass rush will be enough to disrupt Clemson and escape with a rivalry win. 

Notre Dame at USC, 3:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS

Pick: Notre Dame -7

Breakdown: USC is always known to play up or down to its competition, but Notre Dame is playing too well and has too much on the line not to handle a very mediocre Trojans team.

Underrated games

Miami at Syracuse, 3:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN

Pick: +11

Breakdown: Only Kyle McCord stands in Miami’s way of reaching the ACC title game. Miami has played with its food far too often for me to think it won’t let this game be uncomfortably close on the road. But I still think the Hurricanes pull it out in the end.

Nebraska at Iowa, 7:30 p.m. Friday on NBC

Pick: Iowa -5.5

Breakdown: This is some quality sicko Big Ten fun (the same could be said for Wisconsin vs. Minnesota). Iowa isn’t what you’d describe as must-see TV or anything, but the Hawkeyes have been surprisingly competent offensively this year. Nebraska has finally clinched a bowl game and won’t have that pressure hanging over it, so asking for a road win is a tough task.

Kansas State at Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. on FOX

Pick: Kansas State +3

Breakdown: Iowa State has everything in front of it, which means it is set up for disaster the way the Big 12 race has gone this season. Expect Kansas State to revel in playing spoiler and potentially lift someone else into the conference title game.

BONUS 

Mississippi State at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. Friday on ABC

Pick: Ole Miss -26

Breakdown: I only include this because the Egg Bowl is one of my favorite games all year. Each season, regardless of what the records of both teams are, some stupid BS happens in this game, guaranteed. Which is a big selling point because Mississippi State is straight garbage so we need some entertainment value. 

Hot seat tracker

We’re on pace for an all-time slow coaching carousel season. At least due to firings, we’ll see what happens after next week and if anyone is a casualty on black Monday or if coaches leave unexpectedly. 

Already fired

  • Mike Houston, East Carolina 
  • Will Hall, Southern Miss
  • Mike Bloomgren, Rice
  • Brian Bohannon, Kennesaw State
  • Stan Drayton, Temple
  • Mike Neu, Ball State
  • Kevin Wilson, Tulsa
  • Tom Herman, FAU
  • Biff Poggi, Charlotte
  • Jim McElwain, CMU (yeah, yeah he “retired” but come on)
  • Don Brown, UMass

Seat is red hot

Ryan Walters, Purdue: I’m moving him into red hot. Coming into the season's final week sitting at 1-10 with a likely ass-kicking from Indiana on the way, I think Walters is toast. It would probably take an insane win against Indiana or something to save him now.

Seat is probably a little warm

Mike Locksley, Maryland: The sense is Locksley will survive, but likely finishing 4-8 despite being there as long as he has is pretty underwhelming.

Former hot seat darlings now declared safe by their schools and bowl eligible

  • Dave Aranda, Baylor
  • Billy Napier, Florida

Probably safe

Mack Brown, North Carolina: He’s been telling everyone who will listen he’s coming back for another year, which could be his last season in the sport.

Trending toward surviving but 2025 is crucial for them

  • Brent Venables, Oklahoma
  • Lincoln Riley, USC
  • Hugh Freeze, Auburn
  • Sherrone Moore, Michigan
  • Brian Kelly, LSU
  • Mike Norvell, Florida State
  • Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Hodgepodge Week 13 classifiers

In the CFP: Oregon, Ohio State, Texas

Win and in: Indiana, Penn State, Tennessee, Notre Dame

Locked into conference championship: SMU, Georgia

Win and in to conference title game: Miami

Ready to pounce if Miami loses: Clemson

Have to win twice: Texas A&M

Big 12 four-way tie disaster: Colorado, BYU, Arizona State, Iowa State

You could have been a contender but blew it: Ole Miss, Alabama

If both win, likely playing for the Group of Five spot next week: Boise State, UNLV

Praying one of the above slips up: Tulane

Rushed the field because they won six games: Nebraska

Relieved they got bowl eligible: Oklahoma, Michigan, USC, Florida

Complete second-year disaster: Wisconsin

Big 12 spoiler: Kansas

Have clinched a bowl game but not going to the CFP: Pittsburgh, Kansas State, LSU, Illinois, Missouri, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Iowa, Louisville, Duke, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, TCU, South Carolina, North Carolina, Baylor, Washington, Rutgers, Boston College, Cal, West Virginia, Arkansas

Fighting for a bowl game: Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Virginia, Cincinnati, Auburn, Michigan State

No other way to say it, these teams stink: Northwestern, Maryland, Wake Forest, Utah, Kentucky, Purdue, Houston, Mississippi State, Florida State, UCF, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Stanford, UCLA

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