Ohio State limped into the 2024 College Football Playoff, but once they made it in, they looked like an entirely different team, which propelled them to the National Championship.
The Ohio State Buckeyes came into the 2024 College Football Playoffs as a massive question mark. They had two losses on the year and were coming off arguably the biggest loss of the season in the biggest upset of the year.
They had so many more questions than answers, and they looked internally to find themselves. The solution they created was a complete and total philosophy change ahead of their playoff run.
In the Michigan game specifically, the Buckeyes tried to win the football game between the tackles. They tried to win a fight that they didn't have the advantage in, and they got beat because of the game plan.
That approach wasn't specific to the Michigan loss; it was littered all throughout their schedule. They condensed the football game against Nebraska and Penn State, which were close wins. They did the same down the stretch of their season against Northwestern and Indiana, which turned out to be big wins, but were both close games into the second half.
What changed heading into the playoff seemed to make too much sense.
The Buckeyes welcomed the Tennessee Volunteers to Columbus and put their foot on the gas pedal from kickoff until the clock hit zero. The first offensive drive of the game saw big catches by Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, and a 37 yard touchdown by Jeremiah Smith.
They continued to attack the Volunteers through the air and didn't let off the throttle.
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In their second game against Oregon, it was more of the same. They fed Smith as much as they possibly could, and he would finish the football game with seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
Ohio State went big game hunting and it proved to be their X Factor.
How does that translate to 2025? I think something very similar could be in the works for the Buckeyes in this playoff run.
While Ohio State hasn't shied away from big play football this year, it were snake bitten against Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game.
In that loss, redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin was uncomfortable thanks to the pressure he was facing, and the Buckeyes had a very questionable approach on the offensive side of the ball. Time and time again, they used heavier personnel to try to create matchups.
The matchups it created were advantageous for Indiana and not Ohio State, and the result proved that out.
Heading into this potential playoff run, the Buckeyes might need to employ a similar approach that they did last year. With Ryan Day getting the controls of the offense back and play-calling is going through him, I wouldn't be surprised if the Buckeyes changed their approach, and neither should you.