Reenergized Ohio State preparing for Georgia with urgency, physicality

ATLANTA — Ohio State went back to the fundamentals after faceplanting against Michigan in the regular season finale. The Buckeyes returned to good-on-good practices with their offensive and defensive starters duking it out in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Ironically, Ohio State got a headstart on College Football Playoff preparation because it didn’t reach Conference Championship Weekend. The Buckeyes didn’t know what their was fate was, but they practiced like they were part of the four-team field, and it set the tone for their eventual bid.

“I think that there’s been a focus on really high levels of execution,” head coach Ryan Day said Monday. “I think that there’s been a focus on just overall physicality of practice. And I think, as we finished our work in Columbus, you could see there was just an energy as we headed off down here to Atlanta.

“That continued today.”

Day added: “There’s a level of urgency that we know we have to play our best football here in this game. So we’re going to continue to prepare as hard as we possibly can, on the field and off the field.”

The last thing Ohio State wanted was to lose its regular season finale: The Game, at home, with a CFP bid on the line. But it’s worked out in a way where, despite that embarrassing rivalry defeat, the Buckeyes are right where they want to be — in the Peach Bowl with a shot at the national title game.

The loss could be a blessing in disguise.

Georgia’s lone setback last season served that purpose. The Bulldogs were smacked by Alabama in the SEC Championship, 41-24, and entered the CFP as a one-loss No. 3 seed.

Then they steamrolled Michigan and Alabama by a combined score of 67-29, en route to their first national championship since 1980.

“Yeah, it really centered things,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Monday of last year’s SEC Championship loss to Alabama.

“You recalibrate, and you look back, and sometimes the reality of your weaknesses pop up a lot more in a loss. We like to say, ‘Why do you got to lose to learn?’ You shouldn’t have to do that, but it certainly is a wake-up call on teams I’ve been with.”

Unfortunately for Ohio State, even with a wake-up call, Georgia is as stiff of a test as the Buckeyes were going to get. And it’s not like the Bulldogs are overlooking Ohio State. After all, the defending champs know what it feels like to back into the CFP with a loss.

Georgia players had high praise of the Buckeyes Monday, with Bulldogs cornerback Kamari Lassiter labeling Ohio State’s offense as “pretty unique in themselves.”

“They do a lot of things that are different, and they’re very good at what they do,” Lassiter said. “They’ve got a very dynamic quarterback and really good guys outside and in the backfield as well.”

Of course, Georgia is quite effective offensively as well. The Bulldogs’ bread and butter is their rushing attack, which features a three-headed monster at running back.

Kenny McIntosh, Dajun Edwards and Kendall Minton have each carried the ball more than 70 times this season, and they’re all averaging north of five yards per tote. Georgia is 17th nationally in rushing yards per game (207.0) and seventh in the country in yards per carry (5.53).

The undefeated Bulldogs have finished seven of their 13 games this season with more than 200 rushing yards, including their last three victories.

“They’ve got a good O-Line, good running back and a good scheme,” Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg said. “So I think when you put all those together, you’ll be pretty good.”

Slowing down Georgia’s run game is priority No. 1 for an Ohio State defense that was gashed by explosives versus Michigan. The Buckeyes allowed only three rushing plays of 15 or more yards, except two went for 75-plus-yard touchdowns.

“We’ve taken a hard look at certainly what happened the last game but also the challenge coming into this game and put a good plan together,” Day said.

Day explained: “We have to learn how they’re trying to attack us within the game. And then obviously get our guys in the best position possible schematically, but, at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to fundamentals and running to the football, playing really hard, pad level, tackling and certainly you can’t overcommit because then you put yourself at risk risk in the back end.”

If you’re bulled at the line of scrimmage, you can’t beat Georgia. It’s as simple as that.

The recipe for an upset calls for not only good run defense but also adequate blocking on the other side of the ball.

Day pointed out that Georgia’s vaunted defensive line — headlined by Jalen Carter, who is posting the second-best Pro Football Focus defensive grade (92.7) of any interior lineman this season — is versatile. The Bulldogs players up front can play each of the positions inside, Day said.

“I think they do a great job with their hands, I think they do a good job with their pad level,” he noted. “They try to just eat up as many gaps as possible and try to create a mess inside, and they do a good job of that.”

In other words, Ohio State has its hands full.

That’s why the Buckeyes are trying to match Georgia’s physicality. And, unlike the Michigan game, they’ve had the benefit of a month in-season to prepare and recenter things.

With an even greater sense of urgency, no less.