With the reality Jaxon Smith-Nijgba's college career is history, Ohio State won't have TreVeyon Henderson against No. 1 Georgia and there's no guarantee right guard Matt Jones will be 100% healthy either, it's good news other players will benefit from the long layoff but things still aren't all that rosy at the WHAC.
Those shortcomings on offense matter no doubt, but just a big a factor as to whether No. 4 Ohio State can topple the Bulldogs rests on a Buckeye defense looking to bounce back from the debacle in The Game.
I don't need to tell you what happened in that one as an overly aggressive OSU defense was burned for a host of chunk touchdowns that turned the tide while allowing Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy to have a field day when it mattered most.
Now, Ohio State faces a Georgia squad that's basically a bigger, faster, stronger Michigan. It's also led by a quarterback known more for intelligent game management than being an elite arm talent.
That quarterback, former walk-on Stetson Bennett, parlayed his smarts and skills into a Heisman finalist season with his sites now set on repeating as a national champion.
His story is not lost on Ohio State head coach Ryan Day who discussed the Bulldogs signal-caller in yesterday's media session.
"(Stetson) Bennett is the one that kind of gets it all going. And certainly they have talent across the board... Bennet's an unbelievable season story. It's been a joy to watch him compete"– Ryan Day on Georgia QB Stetson Bennett
No doubt, Bennett is the kind of underdog story a lot of fans could get behind, those I'm not sure those fans are located in Buckeye or Big Ten country.
To his credit, he fought his way onto the field and is now 27-3 as a starter. In those three Georgia losses, two coming back in 2020 and one last year, Bennett's play was a huge factor.
| SEASON | OPPONENT (SCORE) | COMP / ATTEMPTS | COMP % | PASSING YARDS | TD / INT | SACKS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | #8 FLORIDA (44-28) | 5 / 16 | 31.3% | 78 | 1 / 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | #2 ALABAMA (41-24) | 18 / 40 | 45.0% | 269 | 2 / 3 | 2 |
| 2021 | #3 ALABAMA (41-24) | 29 / 48 | 60.4% | 340 | 3 / 2 | 3 |
| 3 SEASONS | 0-3 | 52 / 104 | 50.0% | 229 AVG | 6 / 6 | 6 |
Yes, it's been a long time now but in 2020, the Bulldogs lost to No. 8 Florida and No. 2 Alabama with Bennett under center. In the Florida matchup, Bennett was green and awful. He completed just 5-of-16 throws with one touchdown and one pick before he was pulled in favor of former OSU verbal commitment D'Wan Mathis.
Against the Crimson Tide, He was better but still bad as he missed on 55% of his throws with three killer interceptions. The first led directly to an Alabama score but the Bulldogs still took a 24-20 lead into halftime.
The modest four-point cushion evaporated quickly as Alabama converted a Bennett pick into a touchdown drive for a 34-24 edge before another Bennett interception turned into another Bama score for a 41-24 victory.
Turning to 2021, it was again Alabama getting the better of Bennett and the Bulldogs in the SEC championship game, against by a score of 41-24, as Stetson threw two more second half picks. The first came in the red zone to kill a scoring chance and the second, a pick six, gave Alabama a decisive 38-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
To his credit, Bennett would beat Nick Saban's crew 33-18 in the national title game as he completed 65% of this throws with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Looking at those three losses in his last 30 starts, the common denominators are inaccuracy and interceptions. Bennett completed just 50% of this throws across those three defeats (52-for-104) with six touchdowns against six interceptions. He was also sacked six times.
Pressuring Bennett into mistakes seems mandatory for the underdog Buckeyes to have a chance. That means consistent pressure, some quarterback hurries, sacks and enough chaos to make Bennett turn the ball over giving Ohio State short fields and/or defensive points.
The bad news for Ohio State fans hoping for exactly that comes as the Bulldogs haven't allowed sack since way back on October 15. That's six straight games of keeping Bennett clean. That said, Bennett did have five picks over that span with 13 touchdowns.
Unless you're a eternal optimist or a homer, it feels like a lot has to go right for Ohio State to take down the Bulldogs among the items at the top of that list is forcing Bennett into a poor performance.
