Ohio State Buckeyes Look to Avoid Being Blown Out in Another Championship Game

It’s been 12 years since the Ohio State Buckeyes won a national title. Won it in a 2 overtime thriller against Larry Coker’s Miami Hurricanes in what is arguably the best BCS National Title game on record. Names like Maurice Clarett, quarterback Craig Krenzel, Mike Doss and of course the Sweater Vest himself coach Jim Tressel. That night will forever ring true for all college football fans as an absolute nail biter and justification for the BCS.

More from Big Ten

Since that magical night in the desert the Buckeyes have returned to the championship game twice and have lost in humiliating fashion both times. The first was in 2007 against Florida, when Ted Ginn Jr. took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to put the Buckeyes up 7-0. Ironically, Ginn, one of the Buckeyes’ best players for that 2006 squad, got injured in the celebration of that touchdown and wouldn’t return for the rest of the game. It would prove to be an omen of things to come as the Gators pummeled Ohio State 41-14.

In the following year, again the Buckeyes contended for the title, this time against a 2 loss LSU Tigers team. At one point in the game, the Buckeyes led 10-0 and it seemed like the boys from Columbus could shake off the previous year’s disappointment but from the 1st quarter till about 1:38 left in the 3rd quarter, Ohio State was outscored 31-0, eventually losing to LSU 38-24.

Will Ohio State get blown out again in another title game? Surely, if you’re a Buckeye fan, you know the perception that is out there. Great regular season only to be trifled by an SEC team in a title game. This is a program on the brink of bringing it all back. Of erasing past failures by not only showing up in this national title game, but ushering in a new era of Ohio State Buckeyes football by winning it. The Big Ten would officially be back and the pedestal that the SEC has been perched on would finally be toppled.

The good news for Ohio State fans is that they’ve already gone through an SEC team to get to Dallas by beating Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide, a feat all by itself. The bad news is that they’re up against an Oregon Ducks team that is also on a mission to claim their rightful place in this new era of college football. The Ducks looked simply unstoppable in the Rose Bowl against a 27-0 Florida State and left no doubt in the 3rd quarter as to who was the better team, eventually winning 59-20.

But Ohio State has Cardale Jones, Ezekiel Elliott, and a coach in Urban Meyer that reeks of confidence. Question is: Did the Buckeyes make their run at the wrong time against a truly unstoppable Oregon Ducks team? We’ll find out on Monday if Ohio State makes that next step, or goes back to the drawing board like in 2007 and 2008 when the Buckeyes couldn’t even keep it close…

More from Saturday Blitz