Welcome to The Hodgepodge.
Ohio State endured three weeks of pure hell.
The devastation of losing to Michigan for a fourth straight year, especially this weakened version of the Wolverines, encapsulated an entire city, fanbase, and team infrastructure.
So much so that the pregame atmosphere had the strangest feeling of any Ohio State game I’ve covered in the past four seasons. Belief in Ohio State was at an all-time low. Speculative questions swirled nationally around Ryan Day’s future with the program if the Buckeyes lost to Tennessee, fair or not. So much so, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork had to give Day not one, but two votes of confidence ahead of the matchup.
Optimistic Ohio State fans pointed out that Day and the Buckeyes had bounced back before after a devastating loss to Michigan with a heavyweight fight against Georgia in 2022. Less-than-optimistic fans retorted something like, “Yeah, man, but you know they still lost, right?”
Tensions were high in Ohio as the Buckeyes drew the toughest first-round opponent of any of the other three hosting schools. Ohio State was favored in the game, so it’s not like nobody gave the Buckeyes a chance, but it seemed far from a sure thing.
Then Saturday rolled around. Tennessee brought the largest contingent of visiting fans I’ve ever seen to Ohio Stadium (though the estimations of just how many were probably greatly exaggerated). The Volunteers players ran out shirtless in 20-degree weather for warmups, then changed their minds three minutes later when they realized that’s a terrible idea.
Kickoff got underway, and from start to finish, one thing held true: Ohio State kicked the ever-living hell out of Tennessee.
Day and Chip Kelly heard the criticisms of the Michigan game plan all too well and called a more aggressive game, utilizing the talent of Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith to perfection. Smith roasted an All-American cornerback all night and proved that, when utilized properly, he’s a matchup nightmare for anybody and arguably the best receiver in the country. Quarterback Will Howard was terrific and delivered his second 300-yard passing performance of the year.
Defensively, the Vols didn’t have a prayer until it was far too late, as they didn’t even complete a pass in the entire first quarter. Ohio State getting ahead by so much so early took Tennessee completely out of its preferred gameplan, and an injury suffered by star running back Dylan Sampson didn’t help much there either.
Coming into the contest, I fully expected the Buckeyes to win a rock fight. What transpired instead was a cathartic ass-kicking of an apparently overrated SEC team that lifted the spirits of pretty much everyone who needed it.
Immediately following the game, Day found his family. Three weeks ago, his daughters were in tears. On Saturday, he embraced his wife and his other immediate family, with the pure relief on his face ever palpable.
Howard, rose in his mouth and all ahead of the Rose Bowl, found his way into the stands to celebrate with the fans. Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton proudly ran across the field with an “Ohio Against the World” flag. Lathan Ransom, Caden Curry, Jermaine Mathews Jr. and countless other Buckeyes high-fived any Ohio State fan who wanted one on their way out.
As I said in the opening, the Buckeyes endured three weeks of pure hell. But it played so well that it got to experience pure elation instead.
After three weeks of hell, pure elation. pic.twitter.com/PANNACdfaK
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) December 22, 2024
Now, coming up for air and looking from a 30,000-foot view, this game by itself isn’t going to completely wash away the disappointment from last month. Nor should it. But that performance inspires some confidence that hey, maybe Ohio State can win a national championship after all.
It doesn’t get any easier from here, though. Ohio State now gets what it wanted since mid-October: a rematch with Oregon, the lone undefeated team remaining in the sport.
Ohio State spotlight of the week: Cornerbacks
We’ve got Ohio State vs. Oregon round two coming up in about a week, so naturally a lot of focus will probably go to what beat the Buckeyes the first time around. OSU’s passing defense certainly has to be much better against the Ducks, considering they exploited the Buckeyes multiple times with the deep ball.
Denzel Burke had his worst career game against Oregon, a thing he knows all too well and has been circling for a long time. If Burke gets beat a few times this go around, I imagine they’d adapt and use Jermaine Mathews Jr. more, as they’ve been doing the past seven games anyway.
I'm definitely looking forward to watching Burke, Mathews, Davison Igbinosun, and Jordan Hancock go against Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart a second time, and I’m expecting the results to be much better this go around.
First round of CFP produces plenty of snoozers
I think these are my other thoughts from the first round of the CFP:
- We’ve got to do something about the seeding. Regardless of whether or not you like the expanded playoffs (I do), it doesn’t matter, because we’re not reducing the number of teams in the field any time soon. But if we seed it differently, I think you’d get much better matchups in the first round than what we were treated to on Saturday. My proposal for change is no more automatic byes for conference champions. I still think conference champions should get an automatic bid into the playoffs, but Boise State getting a pass to the quarterfinals with zero quality wins while teams like Ohio State and Tennessee duke it out in the first round doesn’t sit quite right.
- Instead, you could just give the top four seeds to the top-ranked teams in the sport, two of which are going to be conference champions anyway. I think the team that should be leading the charge for a format change this offseason is Oregon. Could you imagine how pissed you’d be as a Ducks fan? You are the only team that goes undefeated and deserves the best draw you can get, and your first playoff game is against… the team with the best roster in the sport. Sure, you’d probably have to beat them anyway, but still, I’d be livid.
- Tip of the cap to Volunteers fans. As I said, I’ve never seen that many visiting fans in Ohio Stadium ever, and it was noticeable. They didn’t have much to cheer about, and I would push back that there were 40,000 of them in the stadium (it’s probably closer to 20 or 25k), but they showed out. Ohio State and the city of Columbus thanks you for your business, I suppose.
- The best part about Ohio State dismantling Tennessee, aside from the cathartic joy it gave OSU fans, was it shut Lane Kiffin and SEC fans the hell up. In a twist of irony, SEC diehards were ready to regulate Indiana to the FCS following a lackluster performance against Notre Dame on Friday, but the Hoosiers’ eventual 10-point defeat ended up being the closest margin of any of the four games. The argument for more SEC teams in the field doesn't hold as much water when the third-best team in the conference gets completely slapped around, does it?
- When Indiana and SMU had a rough go, the talking points from down south and ESPN were out of control that Alabama, Ole Miss, or South Carolina needed to be in because they’d deliver a much better performance. And on paper, sure, they have better talent. But my pushback is, how do you know? And what have any of them shown throughout the season to prove it? The SEC remains forever undefeated in hypothetical games.
- SMU QB Kevin Jennings threw three interceptions against Penn State and was completely overwhelmed. No arguments there. Wait a minute, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe also threw three interceptions and only mustered three points against a 6-6 team earlier this year? How interesting. Ole Miss lost at home to a four-win Kentucky team that lost to an ACC squad 41-14? That can’t be right. The point of the story, if you lose three teams in the regular season and show obvious flaws, you lose your right to complain. Tennessee was the third-best team in the SEC this season and Ohio State made mince meat out of the Vols. Isn’t it possible that the SEC is just down this year?
- Alright, I’m off my soap box. Anyway, Notre Dame’s defense has some staying power, and running back Jeremiyah Love is extremely impressive. Not that they don’t have their warts, but I wouldn’t want to play the Fighting Irish if I was Georgia.
- Penn State has to be on cloud nine right now. The Nittany Lions throttled SMU round one, and now have to beat a Group of Five team to get a semifinal appearance. If they can get there, Notre Dame or Georgia would be a tough challenge for them, but it’s not impossible they can beat either of them. Don’t know when PSU is ever going to be this well-suited to make the semifinals ever again, so soak it up, Nittany Lion fans.
- Every team I see Texas play, I just think that’s something’s missing. The Longhorns shouldn’t have a problem this round against Arizona State, but it’ll be hard for me to pick them over the OSU or Oregon winner in the semifinals.
Games of the week
We’ve got four CFP quarterfinal matchups and we’ll pick a few fun non-CFP games too.
CFP first-round record: 3-1
Overall record: 61-51
CFP bowls
Penn State at Boise State, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31 on ESPN
Pick: Penn State -10.5
Breakdown: Boise State is incredibly reliant on one player. Granted, it’s a very, very good player and arguably the best one in the sport. But I think Penn State will be able to limit Ashton Jeanty enough to advance to the semifinals with relative ease. Boise State gave Oregon a competitive game, but the Broncos have shown they’re vulnerable plenty of times since then.
Texas at Arizona State, 1 p.m. Jan. 1 on ESPN
Pick: Texas -13.5
Breakdown: I still think Texas is overrated and can’t trust the Longhorns, but unfortunately I trust the Big 12 against elite talent even less. By the way, Texas vs. Arizona State, classic Big 12 matchup, right?
Ohio State at Oregon, 5 p.m. Jan. 1 on ESPN
Pick: Ohio State -2.5
Breakdown: I feel like a flip-flopper to the tenth degree considering I picked Oregon to win this matchup in our staff CFP picks last week and didn’t lose a wink of sleep over it. But that win against Tennessee and the adjustments OSU’s coaching staff made on offense was too impressive to ignore. When the Buckeyes are playing at their ceiling, it’s almost impossible to beat them. Not to beat a dead horse from earlier, but I wish this was a national championship matchup or at the very least a semifinal, not a quarterfinal game considering it’s probably the two best teams in football.
Notre Dame at Georgia, 8:45 p.m. Jan. 1 on ESPN
Pick: Notre Dame +1.5
Breakdown: Georgia is good, but I have doubts that it’s good enough to survive throwing a backup quarterback into the fire for 60 minutes in a do-or-die game. Notre Dame’s pass defense is a terrible matchup for Gunner Stockton, and if the Fighting Irish can stop the run additionally, it could be a long day for the Bulldogs.
Non-CFP bowls
Iowa State at Miami, 3:30 p.m. Dec. 28 on ABC
Pick: Miami -3
Breakdown: I would have watched the hell out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl anyway for the pomp and circumstance, but I’m much more intrigued by it considering Cam Ward is expected to play. This could be a windshield-wiper game since Miami’s defense leaves a lot to be desired, but I expect the Hurricanes to pull it out in the end.
BYU at Colorado, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 on ABC
Pick: Colorado -5.5
Breakdown: In a reversal of the trend from a year ago, I’m also pleased that there seem to be no opt-outs in sight for this one either, with Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders expected to suit up. Colorado can be very fun to watch offensively, and with seemingly a very low-stakes bowl on the line I expect the Buffs to thrive against BYU considering they seem to be taking it very seriously.
Iowa at Mizzou, 2:30 p.m. Dec. 30 on ESPN
Pick: Iowa +3
Breakdown: No big analysis here. I’m picking Iowa simply because it would be hilarious, and the Hawkeyes will probably be massively overmatched and outgained by 160 yards and still win anyway.
Alabama at Michigan, noon Dec. 31 on ESPN
Pick: Alabama -10.5
Breakdown: It will be eye-roll-inducing once Alabama wins by two scores or so and uses the platform to argue how “embarrassing” it was that this three-loss SEC team didn’t get a chance to compete for a national title. But if this projection plays out, no one in Columbus will care.
South Carolina at Illinois, 3 p.m. on ABC
Pick: Illinois +10.5
Breakdown: South Carolina finished the year strong, but I have a strange belief in Bert’s guys to cover the spread by using a slow, methodical offense.
