Ohio State Football: Buckeyes seek return to CFP in 2019
The Ohio State football team seeks its third trip to the CFP and will attempt to break the Big Ten’s scoreless streak since the Buckeyes won the first.
This time in 2014, the world had their eyes locked in on Ohio State as National Championship contenders. A second Braxton Miller injury later and out the window those aspirations went. The Buckeyes seemed to be forgotten and written off, but inside the locker room nobody panicked.
The Buckeyes put together one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history. They overcame two injuries to their quarterbacks, an albatross of a loss to Virginia Tech, the death of a teammate and having to beat the Heisman finalists in consecutive games.
Those three games were among the greatest of the Urban Meyer era. Third string QB Cardale Jones and RB Ezekiel Elliott led the Buckeyes to an improbable inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship victory over the Oregon Ducks 42-20.
Two years later in 2016, the Ohio State roster consisted of over 70 underclassmen yet still clinched a berth in the playoff. The outcome was a little different but once again the Buckeyes made the playoff when they were not expected to be there.
Some think Ohio State won’t be a serious contender this year with rookie head coach Ryan Day and a first-time starting quarterback in Justin Fields. However, the Ohio State roster is absolutely loaded with talent and skill that will be refined and maximized by the elite coaching staff.
The feel of this upcoming season is parallel to that of late August 2014 in the sense it’s an “Ohio State Against The World” mentality inside of Columbus which is being forced upon the Buckeyes by the media. Not to fear, the Ohio State football team will not be much different from what it has been the last few seasons.
Many allow for the fact the core group of the Ohio State coaching staff and key players chose either not to jump ship and head to the NFL or were retained by Coach Day and his staff.
The Ohio State Athletic Department believes wholeheartedly Ryan Day is ready for the pressure and challenge of being the next head coach. And more importantly, they know and expect him to succeed and maintain the recent successes of the program.
More from Ohio State Football
- Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
- Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
- How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
- Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend
- Ohio State Football vs. Notre Dame Prediction, Odds, Spread and Over/Under for College Football Week 4
The Buckeyes’ quest toward returning to the pinnacle of the college football world begins with the Florida Atlantic Owls on August 31st. Ohio State, like many other programs, has a schedule with two open dates instead of the regular one bye week due to the way the weekends fall on the calendar in 2019.
Fortunately, one of the bye weeks splits a brutal four game stretch against Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern (Friday night) and Wisconsin. That stretch spans the last weekend in September and all of October.
The trickiest part of the schedule though is playing Michigan in Ann Arbor the Saturday following Senior Day against Penn State, in what has been a premier college football showdown the last three years.
Next. Buckeye defense can once again be Silver Bullets. dark
Returning to the College Football Playoff in 2019 will certainly be a daunting task for coach Day and his Buckeyes. But the skill, developed talent and high level of coaching will provide Ohio State with as good a chance as any program in the country.