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Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.
Note: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been edited for errors.
[Dan Hope]
Welcome into Real Pod Wednesdays, coming at you on a Tuesday here from Vero's Bowl Media Hotel. Going to be a little bit of an abbreviated episode today here for an abbreviated week, but just one day away from the most anticipated game, I think really, in all of college football this year. Ohio State getting ready to play Oregon in the college football playoff quarterfinals in a game that I think we both think could ultimately decide this year's national champion, and a game that I think both of us could really see going either way.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, the phrase I used in my preview was, the granddaddy of them all could birth this year's national champion, right? I think this is the two best teams in college football, in my opinion, this year. Oregon's proven it with the undefeated record.
You saw what Ohio State did to Tennessee, and the backdrop, you can't ask for a better backdrop than the Rose Bowl, if you've never been. They show it on TV too, I guess, but the sun sets behind the mountains, they change colors, it's just this gorgeous scene, I almost describe it as college football heaven, the grass is always perfectly cut. You couldn't ask for a better setting for such a big game, and the first time these two teams played, it was one of the best games this season, really.
And I think you expect another really close bout, because these are two teams with a lot of talent, a lot of weapons on both offenses, two defenses that are very good and well-balanced. So I'm really excited to be back, it's my second time to the Rose Bowl, to be back there and covering this game tomorrow.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, there was a question about the sunset during today's press conference, but I don't think Ivor Koch is really too focused on the pageantry of this game, because everything's on the line here. This is for a chance to go to the college football playoff semifinals, and these are two teams that all year long have had their sights set on winning a national championship this season. Certainly we've seen it from Ohio State's perspective of how talented this roster is, this all-in push for this season, this is supposed to be the year, it's all supposed to come together for the Buckeyes to win it all, but it doesn't get any tougher than this test against this Oregon team, a team that's gone 13-0 this year, a team that's already beaten Ohio State once, and this is an Oregon team that's coming into this game with a lot of confidence. I think Oregon comes into this game believing that it is the best team in college football this year, and that it is going to win its first ever national championship.
I think Ohio State has a lot of that too, especially coming off of that Tennessee game. I think the question is, are we going to see the Buckeyes play with that same kind of edge? We talked about it before with the Tennessee game, I think this is an Ohio State team that plays its best when it's got a chip on its shoulder, when people aren't believing in it.
Now a lot of people are believing in the Buckeyes, they're a betting favorite going into this game, despite the fact that Oregon is the number one seed. Based on all the players we've talked to this week, do you get that feeling like even though people are saying better things about the Buckeyes now, that they're still going to go into the game with that same kind of edge?
[Andy Anders]
I really think Will Howard put it perfectly at team check-in on Sunday when we talked to him. It's a business trip for Ohio State. They aren't treating this like a normal bowl preparation, a normal bowl week.
They're flying in for three days, they said they're not planning to go out, they're not here to party or see LA, they're here to win a football game. I think this team has viewed the entire playoff run, entering it, as a four game stretch at a national title. That's what, obviously, the ultimate goal was coming into this year, but for this team it's been laser focused on what needs to get done to progress us through this thing.
That focus, that intensity, I think is clear. To your point, though, I think that doubt definitely did play a role in just the energy and the ferocity you saw against Tennessee. The benefit of this in terms of motivation is that it's a team that beat you earlier in the year.
I think that is something that's definitely charging up the Buckeyes. Multiple coaches said it, you don't get this chance very often in college football. It'll probably be happening more now with the 12-team playoff that you see rematches.
But these are two teams that, again, played a classic earlier in the season in Ohio State. I mean, especially for Will Howard, sliding down a second too late at the end to try and set up a game-winning field goal, there's a lot of motivation. You talk about players like Denzel Burke, who had a career bad performance, has played awesome the second half of the season, I think, but he's got going into this game, wanting to avenge that and shut down the Oregon passing attack in a better way.
I think, yes, you don't have that doubt anymore, but there's other reasons for Ohio State to come out with a real intensity in this game.
[Dan Hope]
I think the big question going into this game, at least from my mind, well, it kind of goes both sides of the ball, but I think the big thing that I'm thinking about going into this game is, okay, how much better is this defense really than it was since the first Oregon game, and can that be the difference in this game? Because this Ohio State defense, it's elite, it's been the best defense in the country this year, but it was the number one ranked defense going into the first Oregon game, too. So I think this is going to be the true test of just how much better this defense is.
Do I think this defense is going to go in and hold Oregon to 17 or fewer points and not allow a passing touchdown? No, I don't, because I think this Oregon offense is too good for that. But I think if you can be closer to what you've been the rest of the year than what you were in that first game against Oregon, you're going to have a chance to win this game, and I think that's the challenge for this Buckeye defense is, you know, I think this is probably going to be another one-score kind of game, and it could come down to just making one more stop, just allowing one fewer drive, just forcing a turnover, or making a sack that you didn't in that first game that gets you the ball back in good field position. We've talked a lot about that first game.
There were so many little moments. Everybody focuses on the Jeremiah Smith offensive pass interference or the late slide by Will Howard, but there were so many different little things, but if one more thing had gone Ohio State's way over the course of that game, it could have won that game. It's those small little margins that Ohio State's trying to find here, and I think particularly on the defensive side of the ball, you think about all the big plays Ohio State gave up in that first game, eight plays of 25-plus yards, six of which came through the air.
If Ohio State can cut that number in half, I think I'll feel pretty good about Ohio State's chances in this game.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, I think those explosive plays are so critical in swinging games like this, and for me, I thought in that first game, we talked ahead of time about how Oregon's offense was built around short passes. The RPO game, get it out quick to your playmakers, complete the underneath balls, very high completion percentage for Dylan Gabriel on the year, all of these things, and Denzel Burke said it earlier in the week at the team's media day. They were surprised a little bit by just how much Oregon emphasized the deep ball in that game.
I mean, Denzel, one of the plays he got burned on in that was the double moves. To your point about pressure, you know, the Oregon game prompted the entire re-engineering of the Jim Knowles defense that we've seen, that has yielded the results in the second half of the year. More mix of coverages, you know, Dylan Gabriel's touchdown at the end happens because Ohio State's caught in a man-scheme, and Oregon knew they were going to be in a man-scheme.
They called an RPO play, run a tight end to the flat, Sonny Stiles goes with him, do a zone read, Dylan Gabriel scores a 27-yard touchdown run, because no one's left to cover the quarterback on a zone read when you pull the linebacker out with a tight end. So, more mix of coverages, we've seen a lot more creative pressures from the defense, but like you said, this is the biggest test of that. Is this defense actually what we saw in the second half of the year, and being that number one defense in the country?
And yeah, you don't expect them to hold Oregon to 17 points or less, but it's just about getting one more stop than you got in that first game, really. That's the margin. So, if you can force a field goal in the red zone, if you can get another three and out, get another turnover, one of those things, and neither team had a sack the last time they played.
We obviously, from the Ohio State perspective, have talked about a lot how Ohio State would have sacked them that game. Oregon didn't either. They're going to have Jordan Burch, and so I think both teams' pass rush is going to be key in this one, because Donovan Jackson, as great as he's played down the stretch of this year, which I do think he handled Mikhail Kamara at Indiana very well, he handled Josiah Stewart for Michigan well, as far as elite edge rushers go, James Pierce Jr. Ohio State's done well against defensive ends here in the back half of the season, but you have two for Oregon that are really effective at getting after the quarterback. And so, when you're talking about wanting to come out aggressive like you did against Tennessee, throw the ball through the air, you wonder how that plays a factor in it, and can they, again, hold up on the edges and protections, because if they do, Oregon's secondary is one of the best Ohio State's played, I think, maybe the best, but no one, I don't think there's anyone in the country that can cover the score of receivers when they're at their best and when Will Howard is in rhythm. So for me, I think pass protection is a key to this game, too, for Ohio State.
[Dan Hope]
You said making one more stop can make the difference. It can make the difference if Ohio State's offense can put up the same kind of numbers it did in the first matchup, as Ohio State scored 31 points in that first game, particularly had a prolific game through the air. Will Howard, still his season-high passing total in that game.
Like you said, Ohio State's wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith, had a big game against Oregon the first time around, Emeka Bucco was productive in that game. I think we've seen Carnell Tate come on more since that game, so I go into this game, even though Oregon's passing defense has been good, I go into this game with a pretty high degree of confidence in what Ohio State can do through the air, and I think there's some room for things to be taken on the ground, because this has not been a great Oregon run defense. You look at their last game against Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game, they really struggled to stop Penn State's rushing attack.
Now, the big question remains Ohio State's offensive line, because we saw Ohio State's offensive line have a much better performance against Tennessee than it did against Indiana and Michigan. But this is still an offensive line that doesn't have Seth McLaughlin anymore. In the first game, Ohio State really had no success running the ball after Josh Simmons went down.
Now, granted, it's a lot harder to make a mid-game adjustment on the offensive line than it is when you have multiple weeks to prepare for an opponent, so I think Ohio State will have a better game plan this time around for running the ball against the Ducks, especially coming off of that Tennessee game where it seemed to find some things in terms of using more gap scheme in the run game, but there's still a big question there for the Ohio State offense is you figure Ohio State is going to have to be able to score at least as many points as it did in the first game to have a really good chance of winning this game, and it's without two-star offensive linemen that it entered that first game with.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, look, the gap scheme talk is interesting, and getting into the X's and O's of that with talking to players, talking to coaches, it doesn't seem like that's necessarily the plan moving forward is to be necessarily fully reliant on the gap schemes. I'm sure they'll definitely be a part of the playbook in this game, and we'll see exactly how much that is, and maybe they do, but they worked against Tennessee from the get-go, and that's kind of why they played it throughout the game is kind of how Justin Fry explained it when I talked to him at Ohio State's media day, but I think it did suit the talents better of what they have on the interior now.
You have inexperienced players, and you get to tell them, hey, go block this guy. That's what gap scheme is. As a lineman, you don't step to a spot and block whoever's in that spot like you do with a zone scheme.
In a gap scheme, you get to know, okay, I'm blocking the nose guard on this play. I'm down blocking him. The run is hitting here, so I know to push him that way.
Those are the kinds of things that I do think benefited well at an experienced offensive line in that Tennessee game, and so I do wonder how much exactly we'll see gap schemes in this game, kind of an in-the-weeds thing, and really, again, it does go back to that offensive line of can you create those holes in the running game, because Oregon's only, you mentioned the Penn State game, Penn State, two 100-yard rushers in that game, and on the year, only 55th nationally in yards allowed per carry for even.
Ohio State is fresh off the game, getting 4.7 per carry against Tennessee. Can they roll that momentum forward, and I also think that the atmosphere, the impact of the home crowd had something to do, too, with some of the successes we saw from Ohio State. The cold weather, I honestly do think, played a role in that game, too, so does it carry over to a neutral field, playoff setting, rematch against one of the best teams in the country?
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, and I think realistically, Oregon's probably going to have a home crowd advantage here. Pasadena's a lot closer to Eugene than it is to Columbus, and I think the Oregon fan base is very much all in on this playoff run, with this being a chance to potentially win their first ever national championship. I think Oregon fans feel like this is their year.
The ticketing data would suggest that more Oregon fans have been buying tickets for this game than Ohio State fans, so I do think Oregon's going to have that home crowd on its side. As you said, it's still a neutral site. Better weather, which is generally better for passing games, but you're not going to have that maybe kind of comfortability advantage that you did against Tennessee, and it's going to be interesting, too, to see the factor of a longer layoff here for Oregon, having three weeks of rest before this game, probably anticipating there was a good chance they were going to play Ohio State, so them being able to really prepare fully for playing Ohio State, whereas Ohio State has to beat Tennessee, put all its focus on that game, and then make a quick turnaround to preparing for Oregon, and so it's going to be interesting to see how that factor plays out. We saw, obviously, in the first round, home field made a huge difference for the home teams. This time around, the question is going to be, okay, does that longer rest period give an advantage to those higher-seeded teams we've got to buy, or do the teams that won those first-round games in blowout fashion, can they kind of carry some momentum off of that?
I think that's something Ohio State is kind of, at least if you're trying to look at it from why this could be an advantage for Ohio State, I think that's something Ohio State kind of looks at it as, they've got momentum, they're not going to be rusty, they can, I think they're glad they had a game already, because they certainly wanted to wash that bad taste out of their mouth from what happened against Michigan, and I think this allows them to carry a different level of momentum, a different level of confidence into this game than they would have had had they not already played Tennessee.
[Andy Anders]
Exactly. They got their mojo back, really, in that Tennessee game, to carry that momentum forward, I think, and even send your seniors out in a better way in their last game in the shoe. When you take that step up from Tennessee to Oregon, because I think we both agree Oregon's a step up in competition from Tennessee, it's good to have that in your back pocket and not be the Michigan game, being the last thing heading into that Oregon game, you roll forward with some confidence, with some momentum, and as far as first round buys go in sports, it's played out both ways, I think, in terms of, is it better to be rusted, or is it better to be in game form, not have the ring rust, so to speak, that you might get as a higher seeded team with a buy.
I'm a Bengals fan, I go back to the Bengals' run to the Super Bowl back in 2021, and they played the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the playoffs that year, who were the number one seed, had a buy at home, and Tennessee came out really slow in that game, I think they scored like 13 points, it was a very low scoring thing where Tennessee was clearly rusty, but you also have teams that get a buy and see it in the NFL all the time, the one seed just blows out whoever they play in that second round, so there's, it very much is a case-by-case thing, and so to your point, I think that's going to be an interesting storyline to follow in this game, and how does Oregon come out early, how do they handle that, you know, having that extra rest, and maybe being a little fresher, but also having that layoff, not being as, you know, haven't played a game in a month sort of a deal, so for me that's a very interesting thing just to see how Oregon starts this game coming off the buy.
[Dan Hope]
Who are a couple of players that you look at going into this game as X factors, guys who really need to step up for the Buckeyes to win this game?
[Andy Anders]
I think the obvious one you've got to start with, we've talked about him before, is Denzel Burke, right, this is a, he said that he's a, you wrote a story about him, he said he's avoiding the word vengeance in terms of approaching this, he wants to go out and play his game, I think that's a good way to think about it, you know, if you want to take it as motivation that's good too, but he has been, the second half of this season, what he was supposed to be coming into this year, Tennessee threw at him once and it was an incompletion, like he has been locking down receivers consistently since that game, but it's still the thing that I think a lot of Ohio State fans remember, because that's the unfortunate thing about playing cornerback, people remember your bad moments a lot more than your good ones, because a lot of your good ones, the ball's not even close to you, because you're locking somebody up and the quarterback says, nope, not going to go there, so I think this is a chance for him to really leave, rewrite what the lasting memory of what Ohio State fans will think of Denzel Burke, if he goes out and has a good performance in this game. Another one, I just want to talk about it, that I mentioned earlier too, is Donovan Jackson proving that his progression as a pass protector, since moving to tackle is real, handling Jordan Burch, handling Matai Uyandale, those two defensive ends, again, get off to the quarterback really well, so if you're talking about players who need to step up in this game, I think those would probably be my top two choices.
[Dan Hope]
And I think Josh Fryer's right there, Donovan Jackson too, I think Josh Fryer, we talk a lot about, oh, he's not as strong in pass protection as he is in run blocker, has a trouble with speed rush, I think Josh Fryer's played pretty well.
[Andy Anders]
He's made some real strides in that area. I think he's really made some strides,
[Dan Hope]
I think people remember going back before the first game, he got asked about Jordan Burch and he kind of made a comment about, oh, it's kind of scary seeing how big and fast this guy is, he didn't end up actually having to play Jordan Burch in that game, but he will this time, so to see how he holds up in that matchup as well, I think certainly the way those tackles play is going to be crucial, and I think, really on both sides of the trenches, I mean, we've talked about it many times, whoever wins the trenches usually wins in big games like this, and I think there's a very likely chance that's going to be true again in this game. For Ohio State's offensive line, they need to build off what they did out of Tennessee, they need to keep pressure off of Will Howard, and they need to at least be able to have some success running the ball.
I think with their weapons on the outside, kind of like with the Tennessee game, I don't think they need to be dominant running the ball, but they need to break off some runs. You can't go an entire half without a first down on the ground like you had in the first matchup against Oregon. If that happens again, you're probably going to lose again.
So you need to be able to have at least some success running the ball, your offensive line needs to be able to do some stuff in the blocking game, and then on the other side of the ball, I think you want to see Jack and JT continue to build momentum off of what they've been able to do in the last few games. It's not going to be easy to sack Dylan Gabriel. Oregon has literally allowed six sacks in its last 11 games, which is phenomenal.
So they've got two fantastic offensive tackles in Josh Connelly and Ajani Cornelius, and a very elusive quarterback in Dylan Gabriel, who's very smart, very heady, very experienced, does a really good job of avoiding those sacks. So I'm not going to sit here and say I expect Ohio State to get four sacks in this game. That would be great.
I think you want to get a couple, like you don't want to get an 0-4 again like you did in the first game, but I think realistically, like two sacks is probably a more realistic goal than four or five sacks in this game. But at the very least, they need to influence Dylan Gabriel. You need to force him into making some mistakes, because the first time around, it just felt like it was too easy for Dylan Gabriel to stand back there in the pocket and do whatever he wants, and you've used the term before, pressure beats coverage.
When you aren't bringing any pressure up front, it allows a guy like Denzel Burke or Ohio State's other cornerbacks to get exposed if they make one mistake, whereas I think in recent games, there haven't been many opportunities for that, because Jack and JT and that entire defensive line have been so relentless in putting pressure on the quarterback.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, exactly. And forcing Dylan off his spot, he has shown that he can make mistakes. He can make bad throws when pressured.
Not that, again, it happens very often, because Oregon's been excellent in pass protection this season. Like you mentioned, that sack stat's crazy, and how few they've allowed. I think another X factor to talk about here is Ohio State's running backs, because yeah, a lot of the focus goes on the offensive line, because we know what Travion Henderson and Quenshawn Judkins have been at their peak.
But Travion's second touchdown against Tennessee was a play he pretty much made himself. Made an awesome jump cut, made a guy miss. Burst through three defenders and rumbles 24 yards to the house.
Those are the kinds of plays they need from their running backs. Make a guy miss for a play that would otherwise be just a one or two yard gain, and break off a chunk. Fall forward for a six yard gain instead of a three yard gain.
Those little things. And I think Quenshawn Judkins, in the last three games, has only been averaging 3.2 yards per carry. Hasn't been as efficient as he was at the start of the season.
Obviously, again, running is a team game. It hinges on the offensive line a lot. Or you have Quenshawn's a two-time All-SEC performer.
Travion has always been ridiculously talented. And when he's healthy, he's put up some really explosive big games, be it last year, be it his freshman year, be it this year. Make some guys miss and cover up some of the lapses that I'm sure there will be on that Ohio State offensive line.
Because, again, gains to be had on the ground against Oregon. So, for me, I think the running backs are kind of an underrated X factor in this game, too, for Ohio State.
[Dan Hope]
And, of course, we've got to mention Jeremiah Smith, right? I mean, the guy is the X factor on this Ohio State team. And he needs to make his presence felt.
He needs to be that weapon for Ohio State. We saw it when they lost to Michigan. A big reason why was because he became a non-factor in the second half.
And the first game against Oregon, he had a hundred yards. We saw it against Tennessee. Two long touchdowns.
He made a huge impact in that game. You need to keep that going. Oregon's certainly going to do what it can to try to take Jeremiah Smith out of the game, but you can't let them do that.
He needs to make a big impact. He's a guy who's as capable as anybody on either team of changing this game and making the plays that win his team the game.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah. Well, he was the header photo of my preview, too. I think Jeremiah Smith is the guy that can really take over this game for Ohio State if they scheme him up the right way, if he's able to make those plays.
Maybe Oregon tries intentionally to take him away, and then you have to rely on Emeka Abuka or Cardinal Tate. That trio, we've said it all year, there's no better trio of receivers in the country, and I think the country pretty much agrees with that assessment when you look at what Jeremiah Smith has done and what Emeka Abuka has done his accomplished career. As you get in kind of a score prediction for this game, Dan, how do you see it playing out?
Where's your head at in terms of who advances to the semifinals here?
[Dan Hope]
Well, you know, I said on last week's show I felt like I was definitely taking the over, and now I think the over is kind of right around 55, 55.5 last I checked, and all of a sudden I'm not feeling so good about the over. I'm feeling it might be kind of right around that number. My final score prediction for this game, I'm going to go Ohio State 28, Oregon 27.
The reason why I made that adjustment is because as I thought about it, I thought, well, I think this Ohio State defense is better than it was the first time around. So I think this Ohio State defense is going to make one or two more stops than it did in that first game up in Eugene. And I don't know if Ohio State's offense is as good as it was because of the fact that it no longer has Josh Simmons and no longer has Seth McLaughlin.
And so when you look at how explosive both these offenses are, you look at the history of college football playoff games between elite teams, they tend to be high-scoring shootouts. So if this game has both teams in the 30s, both teams in the 40s, I won't be surprised. But when I thought about it logically, and how good I think this Ohio State defense is, and the fact that Ohio State's offensive line is probably still the weakest unit between either of these two teams, I ultimately brought my score prediction back down into the 20s for both teams.
I have it as a one-point game again. I think this is going to be one of those games, once again, that comes down to who makes one more play? Who makes one less mistakes?
It could come down to a turnover. It could come down to a stop of a red zone. It could come down to a made-or-missed field goal.
I think this is going to be one of those kind of games. But the way Ohio State's playing coming into this game, bringing in the momentum from that Tennessee game, I'm going with Ohio State. I think Ohio State, unlike the first time, this time around, they find a way to make that one extra play that they need, and they take down the number one seed in this game.
[Andy Anders]
I like that assessment. My score prediction is 31-27 Ohio State. My logic behind it is, yeah, I don't think Ohio State is as complete offensively without Seth McLaughlin and Josh Simmons as they were the first time they played Oregon, or at least the first half when they had Josh Simmons.
But I think their game planning got a lot better after the Michigan game and the Tennessee game. I think they're going to come out with a similar strategy in this where they were able to throw the ball successfully against Oregon the first time out. Will Howard, one of his two games this season, over 300 yards, the other against Tennessee.
And so you come out against Tennessee, they threw the ball five out of six plays their opening drive. One of them is a penalty, so technically four out of five on the box score. But they called five passes and just one run on the opening drive.
It spaced Tennessee's defense out because they attacked both vertically with the Jeremiah Smith deep ball and ran some slide concepts, ran some screens to the sidelines to strike Tennessee horizontally. Then they were able to really get that gap scheme ground game going and punch them downhill. And so I really like that game plan.
I think they're going to come out with a similar approach in this. Aggressive passing a lot early to set up the run later. And I think because I expect Ohio State's defense to play a little better, get one extra stop in the red zone really and that's kind of where my score comes from.
But also being able to get off the field maybe quicker on some of like a three and out here or there. I think maybe Ohio State's offense gets another bite or two at the apple than they had in the first game. Although I guess Oregon was scoring quickly too.
But that's how I see it playing out. A little better performance for Ohio State's defense in this one than the first time. And while Ohio State doesn't have the same ability on the offensive line that they had in the first game, I do think the game plan will be even better than the last time out.
[Dan Hope]
So I have 31-27 Ohio State. We did both pick Oregon to win the National Championship before this started. So clearly we were both impressed by what we saw in that first round CFP game.
And that's kind of changed our opinions. I think we both just have a lot more confidence in these Buckeyes based on what we saw against Tennessee than certainly what we saw against Michigan.
[Andy Anders]
Yes, I'm always open to changing my opinion when new information is presented to me. We did a CFP predictions piece at 11 Warriors and before the CFP I said my prediction was Ohio State would beat Tennessee but lose to Oregon in this game. But yeah, against Tennessee we were both impressed.
We both picked kind of a low-scoring, close win for Ohio State and they go blow out Tennessee. Again, it was the game plan for me. The coaches on offense figured out how to put their players in the best position to be successful, unlike they did against Michigan, unlike they've done in certain other games this season.
So I have faith they can do that again heading into this game and that's what's changing my pick for the Buckeyes.
[Dan Hope]
With that in mind, I know on our original picks I believe you had Texas, Penn State, and Georgia winning the other three semifinals. I had Texas, Boise State, and Notre Dame. With new information, have any of your other picks changed?
[Andy Anders]
Notre Dame. I have Notre Dame over Georgia. I think that the Irish have been playing excellent, excellent football in the second half of the season and I said something to that effect when we did our last round of picks.
But just as I've thought about it more, I think they do, with their running game, with their physicality, they can match up and handle what Georgia does and is going to try to do. Georgia obviously won't have its starting quarterback, but I still think the Bulldogs have been a mainly defensive driven team, which is why I was still like, eh, they can still beat Notre Dame. I just think Notre Dame, to me, has been the best team on that side of the bracket going into the playoffs and in the playoffs.
I still have the other three results the same, though. I think ultimately Penn State's just a more complete team all around than Boise State. I think that's going to be a boiling point game where the talent is too much.
Yeah, Boise State played Oregon close earlier in the year, but that was early in the season as Oregon was still kind of in some choppy waters. They had some other close games in that stretch, either with Idaho State. So that, I think that was a different Oregon team than we saw a few weeks later.
So Ashton Jeanty's great. He might even have a good game in that game, but I just think Penn State's too complete a roster as compared to Boise State, to where I would change my outlook on that game. And Texas, I feel like Texas is probably the pick I feel most confident about over Arizona State in that one.
[Dan Hope]
I'm with you. I think I'd be very surprised if Texas does not beat Arizona State. I'm sticking with all three of my same picks.
I'm still feeling pretty good about that Notre Dame over Georgia pick. I will say my Boise over Penn State pick is my least confident of the four. Makes sense.
Penn State could win that game convincingly, and I wouldn't be shocked. They certainly are a more talented team. But Big James James, you know, this is a little bit, they did well first round game SMU, but home field advantage against a team that was not used to that kind of weather.
Penn State had very clear advantages in that game. I think in this game, yes they have a more talented roster, but I still think this is a game that they're more capable of losing, especially if Ashton Jeanty plays the way he's played all year. So going with the upset there on the New Year's Eve game, Boise State over Penn State, but that's the only one we disagree on.
We've got the same picks for New Year's Day as we're all going with Texas over Arizona State. We're both going with Notre Dame over Georgia, and we're both going with, and a change from our original picks, Ohio State over Oregon, and I think what we expect to be a classic game on Wednesday out of the beautiful Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We will both be there.
Lots more coverage to come on 11warriors.com and for full coverage before, during, and after the Rose Bowl, and we'll be back next time to talk about whether the Buckeyes will be continuing on to the college football playoff semifinals or if Oregon gets the best of the Buckeyes again. Either way, we'll be back next week for another episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, and we hope you'll join us back.