In this year's playoffs, the top 4 teams compete for a chance to win the championship. The last of two games features the Ohio St. Buckeyes playing against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Let's take a look at some of the keys to the game.
What to Watch
What offensive scheme will Ohio State use to propel the offense?Despite only losing 1 game, Ohio State has dealt with a number of blows, ESPECIALLY in the quarterback position. Early in the season, the Buckeyes lost pre-season Heisman hopeful Braxton Miller. The 2nd string quarterback , J.T Barrett went on a TEAR this season after losing his second career game to Virginia Tech. Barrett went on to throw 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this year. All in 13 games. Unfortunately for Barrett and the Buckeyes, Barrett injured his leg in the game against the Michigan Wolverines. This would leave the Buckeyes with only 3rd string quarterback Cardale Jones.
While Jones does not have a lot of college game experience, he has played well while in the game. Jones has completed 22 out of 34 passes and 5 touchdowns thus far. (Granted, those stats were performed against defenses that simply do not compare to Alabama.) The key for the Ohio State will be the ability to make big plays throwing the ball. Everyone in the country is aware that this will be Jones' first big time game as a quarter for Ohio State. Alabama will most likely try to make the Buckeyes one dimensional Jones and the Buckeyes must show that they are not going to alter their game plan tremendously just because they are playing Alabama. Thus, in order to move the ball well , they must throw the ball. Don't be surprised if they throw the deep ball multiple times to test Alabama.
Can Alabama keep momentum going?
After Alabama's loss to Ole Miss mid-season, many people wrote them off as a potential college football playoff team. At that time, both Ole Miss and Miss. St. were top 5 teams, with Auburn right there. Like life, Alabama simply took care of the their part in winning out the rest of the year, and the rest took care of itself. Ever since the loss, the Crimson Tide has been playing like the number one team in the nation. Since that loss, Alabama defeated a total of 5 top 25 teams to finish 12-1. Alabama has been battle tested a couple of times this year. We beat Arkansas by one point. They defeated LSU in Louisiana in overtime. They also defeated the #1 Mississippi St. Bulldogs by 5 points. As long as Alabama can continue to play the way that they have, they will be competitive in the game.
This year, there were questions as to if Blake Sims would be able to do well as the starting quarterback. Needless to say, Sims has steadily improve as the season goes on. In the past 8 games, Sims has thrown 18 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Heisman finalist Amari Cooper will be hard for anyone to handle.
X-Factor
Ohio State's Defense
The key X-Factor for the Buckeyes will be the defense. While many think it may be Caleb Jones, I believe that the defense can either really help Jones or put him in a tougher position. The defense will be facing an Alabama offense who has been clicking on all cylinders right now. If the defense can manage to get stops on at least half of the possessions, then they will have a very good chance at winning. Field position will be a key in this game. Therefore, Ohio State must take advantage.
Alabama's Blake Sims
We know that the Alabama defense is notorious for making plays when it's a close game. The offense starts and ends based on the performance of Blake Sims. As long as Sims is making good decisions with the football, Bama will have no problem moving the ball. However, if he is unable to do , this will cause for more pressure on the defense to make plays.