The Buckeyes are on a hot streak and ready to enter the semifinal matchup against Texas and potentially punch their ticket to their first National Championship appearance since 2020. The question remains, can Ohio State keep the same firepower they had against Tennessee and Oregon? Can the defense continue giving the opposing quarterback nightmares? What exactly do the Buckeyes need to do to win the Cotton Bowl?

Give Jeremiah Smith the Football 

Do I need to say much about this one? Jeremiah Smith has cemented himself as the best freshman in College Football after an amazing season. But he has played like a fifth-year senior in the past two weeks. Against Tennessee, Smith caught six passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The very next week, he scored on a forty-five-yard screen pass in the first minute of the game against Oregon. He finished with seven catches, 187 yards, and two touchdowns. If Smith can continue his dominance then Ohio State should be able to drive down the field with no problem. If Smith gets double or triple-covered it leaves Carnell Tate and Emeka Egbuka both open for opportunities. 

 

Jeremiah Smith: 94.6 PFF Grade vs Oregon

Highest Graded Playoff Performance by a WR in the PFF College Era🤯@OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/GFNN37eoH9

— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 2, 2025

 

Starting Strong

The Playoffs have shown that when Ryan Day’s team starts strong, they are unstoppable. Both games have resulted in Ohio State going up by three or more scores (21-0 against Tennessee & 34-0 against Oregon). Texas has an inconsistent offense that shows up when it wants to, and Ohio State’s defense has made opposing offensive lines shiver and give up on the line of scrimmage very early in both games. It has been a common theme that when the Buckeyes start off on fire, the defense gets the job done throughout the rest of the game. 

 

Leadership & Playing Smart 

Leadership has played a big part in why Ohio State is one game away from a National Championship appearance. Seniors like Jack Sawyer, TreVyeon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka, Gee Scott, Cody Simon, and more have taken a leap in the standard they are holding for the team. Ryan Day has been more aggressive on the sidelines and with his play-calling early in the game, as well as his pregame speech, the roster clearly wants to bring a National Championship back to Columbus for the first time in ten years. The way a team wins a National Championship is by making little to no mistakes, which Ohio State has managed to do during this playoff run. The leadership and smart play needs to continue for the next two games for Ohio State to become the 2025 NCAA Champions. 

Them starting off 34-0 makes a lot of sense after seeing this video: https://t.co/CuZ5EbhZ8D pic.twitter.com/U5Ci2ZyTzp

— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) January 5, 2025

The Offensive Line

The final key to victory against Texas is how the offensive line will play against a dominant Longhorn defensive line. Collin Simmons won the National Freshman Player of The Year over the obvious choice of Jeremiah Smith. Simmons is dominant and will cause the Buckeye offensive line problems early. The key is adjusting, if Coach Frye can adjust his offensive line throughout the game then Ohio State has a good chance at pulling away. The Longhorn defensive line is one of the best in the nation and the last time the Buckeyes faced a great defensive line they lost thirteen to ten to the team up north. 

 

Ohio State has a great opportunity to walk into Arlington and pull off a great win against the Longhorns. There are a ton of aspects of the game that could be talked about as “keys” but these four are the major ones to look at and could change the outcome of what intends to be a game-of-the-year contender in the Cotton Bowl.