In the unlikely world where the Buckeyes lose to the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday Night, what would have to happen?
The Ohio State Buckeyes enters action in the Cotton Bowl as -9.5 point favorites against the Miami Hurricanes in a game that it is very likely to go in the Buckeyes' favor.
A win moves the Buckeyes to the Fiesta Bowl for a semifinal matchup with the winner of Georgia vs. Ole Miss, which takes place on New Year's Day at 8:00 PM EST. A loss for Ohio State, however, would ultimately end their season and put an end to what has been an amazing year for the Buckeyes.
If that were to be the outcome on Wednesday night, what would have had to go wrong for the Buckeyes for them to come up empty?
It would take a lot, in my opinion, for that to be the reality on Wednesday Night in Dallas, but it's certainly on the table as a possibility. The story of this game will begin on the line of scrimmage. Whoever is consistently winning the battle up front is going to have a major advantage and the inside track for the victory.
The scary part for the Buckeyes is that Miami likely has the best or the second-best defensive line that the Buckeyes have faced all year. We saw in the Big Ten Championship that when the units are equally matched by the opponent's front, they struggle and struggle mightily.
If the upset were to happen, Miami's Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor will have to control the line of scrimmage and make quarterback Julian Sayin very uncomfortable all game long.
That alone will not be enough to take down the Buckeyes. The next step that Ohio State must protect against is the turnover. The offense does not turn the ball over often, but if they do, that will not only be a jolt of energy for the Hurricanes. However, it will also keep them in the game and give them another possession win.
The last thing that the Buckeyes must protect against to avoid an upset is the critical, and frankly dumb, mistakes.
There were three major ones in their loss to the Indiana Hoosiers on Dec 6th. The first was Sayin's fourth-down slip that resulted in a turnover on downs for the Buckeyes. The second was Sayin missing a wide-open receiver in the flat that would have given the Buckeyes a first and goal. Instead, they settled for a short chip shot that was missed.
Ohio State must absolutely protect against the big, dumb error that they are not necessarily prone to, but it has bitten them in the past.
If those three things happen, then and only then, will the Hurricanes have a chance.
That combination of unfortunate events is very unlikely to happen.
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