CHICAGO — Ohio State had two weeks to put the finishing touches on what is considered a national championship roster. Now it’s time to get down to business.
It walked out of Northwestern with a one-sided win where no one important got injured — though they had scares from Jeremiah Smith and Gee Scott Jr. — and Carnell Tate got to have a big game in front of his friends and family in his hometown. Now the real challenge begins.
The Buckeyes put together a roster that was always built with this stretch in mind. Next week they can potentially secure a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game with a win over Indiana but at least owning tiebreakers should they win out. The following week provides a chance to exorcise a few demons against Michigan. A rival that in a lot of ways created so many of the problems they’ve spent the last three years fixing.
Both of those things can happen at home. You can put a Big Ten team that thinks it’s on the rise in it place and punctuate an already disappointing season for your rival. All while making your way back to Indianapolis for the first time since 2020 where another revenge game is waiting for you.
The road to get here wasn’t pretty. OSU dominated its weak non-conference schedule the hit a bump in Eugene that opened up Pandora’s box of problems in the middle of the season. Some of which were still on display against Northwestern. Even a road win over Penn State that got you back on this path was ugly because those games always are. But since that emotional victory, you’ve spent two weeks building, experimenting and trying to perfect a a group hungry to end their careers on a high note.
Everything Ohio State’s done for the past nine months was all about getting to this moment ready to fight. Every transfer addition, holding onto Jeremiah Smith through Signing Day, Ryan Day giving up play-calling and even having the hard conversations after the Oregon loss that seemed to have freed Jim Knowles up to be creative on defense.
Judgement season has arrived for the Buckeyes. A program that constantly lives in a state of, ‘Now or Never’ has reached the ultimate version of that for what is essentially Day’s first variation of OSU football.
No more tune-ups. No more process. It’s time to see whether everything that’s gone in to getting Ohio State ready for this moment will work.
The College Football Playoff doesn’t officially start until Dec. 20. But Ohio State’s playoff starts now. With every reason this team was put together on the line.