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Ohio State’s balance: Just too much for other contenders?

By Charlie Lockhart

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In an article on “Saturday Blitz” 13 writers and editors predicted what teams would be selected to play in the college football playoffs this season. Also, they picked who they thought would play in the championship game, and who would win the title. The Buckeyes were picked to repeat by nine of them.

Each writer made a compelling case for the team they thought would win the championship, but I tend to side with those who said the Buckeyes should win their second title in a row. The reason is the balance they will bring to the field.

Let’s  look at those teams the contributors thought would be the other main contenders this season. TCU is at top of the list with 9 votes to make it to the final four. Alabama and USC followed with four picks each and Stanford, Auburn, Baylor, and Clemson were chosen by three to make the playoffs. Baylor was only chosen twice but was picked by one writer to win the national championship.

How do these teams stack up against Ohio State, when the Buckeyes will have one of the best running teams in the nation as well as an excellent passing attack? And potentially a dominant defense.

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    • We will start with Clemson. The Tigers’ Deshaun Watson might be the best young quarterback in college football. But he hasn’t been able to stay healthy and will be playing behind a new offensive line. Do you think Bosa and company would drool over the thought of that? Also Clemson will have 6 new starters on defense. Good luck stopping the Buckeye offense.

    Baylor will plug another quarterback into their system and they will score a lot of points. But a new quarterback and no defense, enough said.

    Stanford will have a very talented quarterback in Kevin Hogan and will be good on both sides of the ball, but they won’t have the athletes to match up against Ohio State’s skill position players.

    The SEC teams Alabama and Auburn will be formidable but both have their issues. Alabama will be breaking in a new quarterback, they couldn’t stop the Ohio State’s offense in the Sugar Bowl, and OSU should be even better offensively this season. Auburn could be the best team in the SEC and has a terrific quarterback in Jeremy Johnson. But the Tigers have spots to fill in the defensive backfield. The defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson, as reported by Justin Ferguson of “Bleacher Report”, said true freshmen would be playing at the cornerback position. Also Auburn is looking for a second and third receiver. Do you think Ohio State has these issues?

    The two teams that could give Ohio State the most problems are USC and TCU. Both are well coached and have the ability to score a lot of points. USC will always have athletes that can match up with just about anybody. They also have a really good quarterback in Cody Kessler so they will be dangerous. But Ohio State is equally as talented and more experienced. Edge Buckeyes.

    And finally the writers predicted this confrontation 6 times, and I agree it could happen. OSU and TCU seem to be on a collision course because of the events of last season and the talent both teams will bring back this season. In the last vote in 2014 that determined who got into the playoffs, OSU replaced TCU as the fourth team to receive a birth. Afterwards, in the Peach Bowl TCU destroyed Ole Miss 42 to 3, and everyone knows how Ohio State did in the postseason.

    This would be a great championship game and it is entirely possible it could happen. Both teams are well coached and score a lot of points. Also both teams return a lot of starters as well as a great quarterback, we just don’t know which one will be that guy for OSU.

    It could be a game for the ages. My pick would be Ohio State because of the running game with Ezekiel Elliott, combined with a passing game to match, and playmakers everywhere. Also a defense that has the potential to be one of the best in the country.

    The Buckeyes are just too balanced, they will be hard to beat.

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