Ohio State football: 3 reasons Buckeyes will beat Alabama for national title

2. The offense might be peaking at the right time

Ohio State was thought to have one of the best offenses coming into the season, but nothing had really materialized consistently heading into the Sugar Bowl versus Clemson. All of a sudden, Justin Fields and the offense was hitting big play after big play and Trey Sermon was dominating on the ground and the Buckeyes looked like the team that they were projected to be.

This season, Alabama has only had two teams put stress on their defense and that was Ole Miss and Florida. Both teams have very skilled receivers that can make plays down the field and stress Alabama’s secondary. With receivers like Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, Ohio State has the talent on the outside get into a shootout with Alabama, which is likely to happen.

Sermon ended the season as the hottest running back in the country and he will make Alabama respect the ground game and that will give Ohio State’s receivers a chance to win one-on-one matchups down the field.