Ohio State Football: 3 Bold Predictions for the Peach Bowl
The Ohio State football team takes on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Here are three predictions for the game.
The Ohio State football team arrived in Atlanta on Christmas night to start bowl week preparations. The Buckeyes are taking on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl as the winner advances to the national title games against the winner of Michigan and TCU.
Ohio State comes into the matchup as an underdog, something this team often is not used to. Georgia comes in as the undefeated unanimous No. 1 team in all of college football. They arguably have the best player on the field in defensive tackle Jalen Carter. This will be an extremely tough matchup for the Buckeyes.
But the good news for Ohio State is that this five-week layoff has helped them heal up and reset. After being the No. 2 team in the country for most of the season, the Buckeyes now come into this game refreshed and ready to go following the Michigan loss. Playing the underdog role may suit this team well.
Here are three predictions for the game.
No. 1: The Buckeyes come out surprisingly less aggressive on defense
Contrary to what defensive coordinator Jim Knowles likes doing, Ohio State’s defense needs to be less aggressive in this game. While Jim Knowles’ aggressive attacking style worked for most of the season, it did not work against Ohio Staes best opponents.
They were burned by big plays in the loss to Michigan and it cost them the game. They were losing the Penn State game in the fourth quarter because they were gashed on defense by some explosive plays. The Silver Bullets simply cannot afford to give up explosives to Georgia and expect to win.
I’m predicting that Jim Knowles comes out surprisingly less aggressive and tries to make quarterback Stetson Bennett march down the field on them. The more Bennett has opportunities the more likely he is to make a bad decision. Knowles will play his safeties back and maybe mix in some zone coverages to help the Buckeye corners who have not had a great season. This will also help contain Georgia tight end Brock Bowers as well.