georgia football ohio state college football playoff wrapup

ATLANTA — In a College Football Playoff game, it can be hard to identify who the best player on the field is. Georgia and Ohio State have multiple future first-round draft picks and two of the four Heisman Trophy finalists.

It didn’t take long for either side to recognize and appreciate the greatness on both sides of the ball. For Georgia, that meant co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp gushing about Jalen Carter.

“He’s somebody you gotta account for every snap,” Muschamp said. “He can change the game certainly inside. He’s a very disruptive guy in the run game and in the pass game. So that’s something that’s — a guy that’s very disruptive. And you gotta account for him every snap, and sometimes it’s hard to help in protection for an inside player. It’s much easier to chip on the edges and be able to have some protection. You can turn the protection.

“We’re very aware of that, that we’ve gotta create situations where Jalen is one-on-ones, and that’s what we try and do as much as we can.”

If Carter is going to have a big game, that likely means things will be difficult for Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud. He is one of the best in the country after throwing 37 touchdown passes this season.

The Georgia defense has scouted Stroud and knows the Ohio State passing attack, perhaps the best in the country, starts with him.

“I would say he’s an elite passer, very poised with his game, and you can tell they run everything through him,” defensive back Chris Smith said of Stroud. “Like I say, like Coach say, he got legs. He can pretty much do it all. He’s a Heisman finalist, and that just says enough for the kind of player he is.”

Those are just two of the talented players in this game. Smith was a unanimous First Team All-American, as was Marvin Harrison Jr. Brock Bowers won the Mackey Award, while Paris Johnson Jr. is seen by some as the top offensive tackle prospect in the upcoming NFL draft.

With so many elite players on the field, every little inch will be critical in a game against two of the best and most talented teams in the country.

Ohio State, the rare underdog

It’s not all that often the Buckeyes are underdogs. The last time it happened came back in the 2021 National Championship game, a loss to Alabama. In the last two seasons, every time Ohio State has stepped on the field with Stroud at quarterback, they have been expected to win.

That did not happen against Michigan, as the Buckeyes lost 45-23. Ohio State has already spent much of this week putting that game behind them, even if the rest of the world won’t let them forget that result.

Because of the loss, Ohio State gets to play Georgia in a game befitting of being a national championship. The Buckeyes are a 6.5-point underdog against the Bulldogs.

Despite the public skepticism, the Buckeyes are embracing the role of being overlooked.

“I always thought it was Ohio against the world, even before this game,” Harrison Jr. said. “So nothing really changes. Me personally I’m glad we can play them in Atlanta, in their kind of home arena. Kind of always like being the villain and underdog going into the game, really excited to be able to do that.”

Harrison Jr. was not the only Ohio State player to note that the game is being treated like a Georgia home game. This will be Georgia’s third game this season in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as the Bulldogs beat Oregon 49-3 in Week 1 and took down LSU in the SEC championship game 50-30.

Georgia won both of those contests handily, flexing its muscles in the win. Ohio State knows it will have to be at its best on Saturday if it is going to unseat the Bulldogs.

And the players seem up to the challenge.

“This is how you want to play Georgia here, at their house much pretty much,” Johnson said. “Since I’ve been here, it’s pretty much been Ohio against the world. So I think this game exemplifies that as well with the circumstances.”

One note worth tracking is that the Buckeyes did indicate running back Miyan Williams had a good practice on Monday and is trending in the right direction. He had just eight carries in the game against Michigan as he has been dealing with a leg injury. He is Ohio State’s leading rusher. The Buckeyes will be without TreVeyon Henderson, their second-leading rusher.

Moving on from LSU

Ohio State isn’t the only team looking to put their last contest behind them, as Georgia players and coach were routinely asked about the performance against LSU.

Georgia gave up 30 points and a season-high 502 passing yards. While Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson pointed out that the score forced LSU to play from behind — it was 35-10 after halftime and Georgia still won 50-30 — Georgia defenders know they have to put a better foot forward against Ohio State.

“That game is behind us. We don’t practice for that last game we had. We look forward,” linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said. “We practice the same way. We know we had a bad day that game. We practice the same, the players have changed the attitude from the game.

“That was embarrassing for us. We’re just going back to work.”

Ohio State doesn’t expect to be able to toss the ball around as easily as LSU made things look with Garrett Nussmeier in the second half. The Buckeyes, led by Stroud, are going to have play their best game against a Georgia defense that will be eager to play up to its standard of excellence.

“I’m pretty sure they’re not going to let us drop back and do what we want to do,” Stroud said. “I’m pretty sure they’ve been watching film on us and make sure that’s something they stop. I’m pretty sure they’ll have a plan for that, and we’ll have to be on our game just as much as they are.

“So that was good for LSU, but we gotta go play Buckeye football and make sure what happens on Saturday for us.”

Georgia and Ohio State will be the second College Football Playoff game on Saturday, with the game starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Below you can find video interviews from Tuesday’s availabilities.

Ohio State, the rare underdog

Moving on from LSU

What we learned about the Georgia football defense, Ohio State offense

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation