Alabama Football: Who has best shot to dethrone the Crimson Tide?
Even at 10th, Ohio State figures to have a good shot at jumping into the playoff if they are able to win out. Winning out from here would mean knocking off Michigan State on the road and taking down Michigan at home, not to mention winning the Big Ten Championship game.
The Buckeyes had a week off to lick their wounds following a shellacking in West Lafayette at the hands of Purdue; the second straight season in which Urban Meyer’s crew has suffered a blowout home loss in the Big Ten to an unexpected opponent.
Ohio State has an obvious advantage in the rest of their games save for the season finale against the school up north, so they figure to have a few weeks to work out some kinks and make a strong push up the rankings.
How they could win
Ohio State is one of the only teams that can match up to Alabama in terms of talent, with Meyer’s team being loaded on both sides of the ball with former four and five-star recruits.
Much like the Tide, Meyer has found a quarterback that can finally make some plays down the field, which unlocks so much for Ohio State on offense. Prior to the loss at Purdue, Dwayne Haskins was neck-and-neck with Tua in the Heisman race. Haskins is the only quarterback in the country to rank in the top five in passing yards and passer efficiency.
Senior Paris Campbell and junior K.J. Hill are a pair of really talented receivers who will provide a tough challenge to the inexperienced Crimson Tide secondary. The Buckeyes have an offense that could keep pace with the explosive Tide attack.
Why they won’t
As good as the Ohio State offense has been, the defense has been surprisingly incompetent, a far cry from a typical Urban Meyer unit. The Buckeyes had no answer for Purdue’s passing attack, and that has been the story of the season for this team so far.
Ohio State ranks 85th in the nation in passing yards allowed, giving up 241 per game. They’re 68th in total defense overall, they just haven’t faced many opponents that were able to fully exploit the weaknesses they have.
Truth be told, Ohio State is probably fortunate to have only one loss, staging a late-rally to overtake Penn State in Happy Valley at the beginning of October, or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
If the Buckeyes secondary couldn’t handle Purdue, there’s no way they would be able to handle Tua and company. The talent is there for the Buckeyes defensively, they’ve just been consistently torched for some reason, and it’s likely to keep them on the outside looking into the College Football Playoff again.