The Ohio State football team will be taking on Texas in the Cotton Bowl. The winner of the game will get a chance to play for a national championship. It pits two teams against each other who will play each other in the first game of the 2025 season, as these two teams will play each other in the Shoe.
Ohio State has been the best team in college football so far in the CFP. Their offense has been unstoppable, while teams haven't been able to score on their defense. They look like a team that is good enough to win a national championship.
Meanwhile, Texas is one of the most talented teams in the country. They are certainly good enough to win this game, although Ohio State might have to help them by turning it over a few times. Still, anything can happen, as we saw against Michigan.
As we have done for every game this season, we give you some bold predictions. If Ohio State is able to accomplish every one of these, they should win the game without any issues. The first bold prediction has to do with Jeremiah Smith's production.
1. Jeremiah Smith will have 175+ yards and two touchdowns
Jeremiah Smith will be the best player on the field in this game. He had this stat line in the Rose Bowl against the Ducks and made it look easy. The difference this time is that Texas' defense is much better, or at least they were in the regular season. So far in the CFP, it has been suspect.
The Longhorns gave up a 16-point fourth-quarter lead against Arizona State and should have lost that game. They also gave up 24 against Clemson in the first-round game in Austin. With how well Ohio State's passing game has been going, they could allow even more points.
Chip Kelly has been extremely smart with how they have used Smith so far in the CFP. Smith has lined up everywhere, not sticking to one side of the field. Because of that, he has been crushing man-to-man coverage. If Texas tries to run any man, Smith is going to be wide open.
Even in zone coverage, there isn't much you can do with him. He has such a wide catch radius that Will Howard just has to throw it in his vicinity, and he'll make the catch. That's what makes him so dangerous. Once the ball is in his hands, he can also score immediately by gobbling up yards after the catch.
Texas is not going to be able to stop Smith or this passing game very well. If they can't, this game might be over in the first half. That leads us to the second bold prediction for this game.