COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State has a chance for redemption and a shot at winning a national championship after being the No. 4 team selected in the 2022-23 College Football Playoffs final rankings as announced on Sunday.
Ohio State (11-1) is set to face No. 4 (13-0) Georgia at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, on Dec. 31.
For the other semifinal game, the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, features No. 2 Michigan (13-0) facing No. 3 TCU (12-1), also on Dec. 31. The Fiesta Bowl semifinal will kick off at 4 pm in Glendale, Arizona.
Below is the full release from Ohio State.
Buckeyes Are Bound for the College Football Playoffs
Ohio State meets Georgia on Dec. 31 at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta
COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the strength of an 11-1 season that included Top 25 (CFP) wins over Penn State and Notre Dame, the Ohio State Buckeyes are headed to the College Football Playoffs. The Buckeyes are the No. 4 seed and will meet top-seeded and defending national champion Georgia (13-0) in the semifinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. with ESPN to televise to a national audience.
The Buckeyes and Bulldogs will be meeting for just the second time. Georgia defeated Ohio State, 21-14, on Jan. 1, 1993 in the Citrus Bowl.
This year’s semifinal game at the Peach Bowl will mark Ohio State’s fifth CFP appearance and the third in four seasons under Coach Ryan Day. Only Alabama (seven) and Clemson (six) have more. The Buckeyes won semifinal games in 2014-15 and 2020-21.
The game between Ohio State and Georgia will mark the Buckeyes’ first-ever Peach Bowl appearance. In its 132-year history, the Buckeyes have played in 13 different bowl games, including the CFP National Championship Game (twice) and BCS National Championship Game (three times).
The 2022 Buckeyes have been powered by one of the nation’s most explosive offenses and a much-improved defense. Led by the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year and Quarterback of the Year in C.J. Stroud, who is tied for the national lead with 37 touchdown passes, Ohio State averages 44.5 points per game and 492.7 yards per game.
The defense, under the direction of coordinator Jim Knowles, is No. 11 nationally in yards allowed and No. 13 in scoring defense. Ohio State has been particularly stout against the run, allowing an average of 3.42 yards per carry while surrendering just 10 rushing TDs in 12 games.
Georgia won yesterday’s SEC title game over LSU, 50-30, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Bulldogs possess top 10 national rankings in both total offense (No. 7) and total defense (No. 9). They also have the nation’s No. 2-ranked scoring defense, allowing an average of just 12.8 points per game.
Information regarding purchasing tickets will be available in a forthcoming release.
I don’t think OSU earned the spot this year and they/re not the complete team. They were over ranked at #2 so they had room to fall and still back in. Their weaknesses are known. The Defense is overrated. The Offense hasn’t the toughness. Not sure the staff is up to their inflated salaries. That’s the good news. Hopefully it’s not over by halftime. Georgia will beat the spread.
I’ll be rooting for TCU to beat Michigan.
Merry Christmas!
This game will be over at half. Like Herbie said. UGA will bring it no doubt for 60 minutes. OSU is soft and will fold. The toughness of this program left with Urban.
This game will come down to coaching and we will unfortunately lose. We made no adjustments against Big Blue and they exposed our terrible corners. I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see us within 20.
Georgia’s pass defense on average has given up more yards per game compared to OSU’s pass defense this year. OSUs strength is passing so there should be opportunities for the offense. The defense aside from a handful of bad plays against UM has been solid this year. Much much better than last year.
I love OSU but this year’s defense is flawed. After years of first round NFL edge rushers and DBs we have neither this year. Still, OSU can win in a shoot-out, but CJ will need to run as well as throw. Hopefully everyone will be healthy and Day will coach like the offensive genius he’s been in years past.
Do you really want CJ to run? He’s not particularly fast so may not be productive. There’s also the risk of injury. Note that the reason OSU is in the CFP is because another team with a running QB (USC) wasn’t able to run their offense against Utah since their running QB got injured running early in the game.
If CJ doesn’t run when there are free yards in front of him, we have ZERO chance of winning. He needs to drop his nuts and get the free yards
How bout in 2014 when Buckeyes got beat by 15 at home by Virginia Tech early in the season and made the first CFP playoff at #4 and didn’t have a chance against #1 mighty Alabama and oh my look what happened,this looks like a perfect storm to me and just like in 2014,and beat Xichigan for all the marbles,that’s a lifetime of bragging rights right there!Dont be surprised if it happens!Go Bucks!Bring it home!
OSU has no chance against Georgia. Michigan exposed this defense and showed how to beat the Bucks.
I’m not too concerned about the offense in this game. The offense has scored over 40 points in 9 of 12 games this year. They also moved the ball against UM but couldn’t finish drives, especially in the 2nd half. The key will be the defense. Georgia can put up points with a very balanced offense.
Identify a person that can be a quarterback protector
He will be in the backfield next to the quarterback
He must be strong quick and head on a swivel
Our line cannot block the Georgia defense
Georgia’s weakness is the past protectors
Our wide receivers will shred the Georgia defensive backs
If we have the time to run our routes
Don’t waste play calls by trying to run between the tackles
Flare passes too are running backs will be our running plays
Hopefully, everyone is healthy…. and the team is the best version of itself… sorry, I couldn’t resist.
LSU gained over 500yards and scored 30 points on Georgia despite losing 50-30,so Ryan Day can redeem himself by calling a good game because there are alot of good chances for the offense,the Oline has to play and block and get physical like ever before and keep #88 out of backfield,and Knowles has to have that defense ready and don’t give up big plays fall apart like they did in 2nd half against xichigan!If they do that then they got a chance!Congratulations Bucks! Let’s Go! It’s your time now!
Love that we got in as this will tell us a lot about our coaching staff.
If we play and coach like we did against Michigan it does not matter if we play Georgia in the playoffs or Utah in the Rose Bowl we will be embarrassed.
This Georgia team is very good but not as Good as the Miami Hurricane team we beat for the Championship and our offense is stronger than our offense that year.
To me it is all about coaching. Getting our players ready to play and game plans. Hopefully we will get some of our freshman more involved on defense.