Ohio State Georgia CFP Semifinal

ATLANTA — Ohio State has no illusions of what is about to unfold Saturday night in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“It’s going to be a fist fight with every play,” Buckeyes offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said Tuesday at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. “You feel their defense …. we’re going to have to do our best to make sure they feel us as we play this game, because it’s not going to be a reactionary game.

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“It’s going to be an attack game both ways, two guys going at each other.”

The No. 4-ranked Buckeyes play the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Ohio State program, long considered the gold standard of Big Ten football, finds itself in the unusual position of underdog, looking to prove its merit on the national stage.

The Buckeyes, from a statistical standpoint, aren’t too different than Coach Kirby Smart’s 13-0 Bulldogs when comparing the teams from an offensive and defensive statistical standpoint:

• Total Offense: OSU 492.7, UGA 491.9

• Total Defense: UGA 292.1, OSU 303.9

• Scoring Offense: OSU 44.5, UGA 39.2

• Scoring Defense: UGA 12.7, OSU 19.2

The major difference is one game: The Buckeyes’ lopsided 45-23 home loss to Michigan.

And, looking closer at that contest, some Ohio State followers point out it really came down to six plays that went for 45 yards or more.

The Wolverines got 170 of their 252 yards on two Donovan Edwards runs of 75 and 85 yards, totaling 92 yards on their other 33 rushes.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was only 12-of-24 passing, but he had three big TD passes of 45, 69 and 75 yards.

Can the Georgia offense strike for those same sorts of big plays?

The Buckeyes are banking on it, and that’s why Coach Ryan Day has said Ohio State needs to score 40 points to win the game.

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Hence, the ultra-aggressive mindset these Buckeyes — embarrassed by two-straight losses to Michigan — bring into the contest.

“You have to go after this game — they don’t give away national championships,” Wilson said.

“Both teams are physical and have guys you can’t block, but great teams also have players that find a way to get into the end zone.”

Ohio State has surely taken notes on how Brian Kelly and LSU went about registering 549 yards and four touchdowns on a proud Georgia defense in UGA’s 50-30 SEC Championship game victory on Dec. 3.

The Tigers’ approach, however, is by no means a blueprint for success.

“You look at those stats, but the result of the game was (Georgia) won the game by 20,” Wilson said, “so that wasn’t necessarily the formula to win the game and make plays in both phases, third down conversions, short yard conversion.”

As much as the Ohio State offense is known for its finesse, featuring smooth pocket passer in C.J. Stroud orchestrating an explosive passing game, Wilson said there needs to be a blue-collar element to beat Georgia.

“There’s going to be some challenging, ugly plays Saturday night, but to get the outcome, we’re going to go at it,” Wilson said. “We have to make some tough and ugly yards on this game to keep us on schedule.”

And, Wilson said, the Buckeyes have to cash in on Red Zone opportunities and score touchdowns and not field goals.

Ohio State’s Red Zone TD percentage comes in at 75.8 percent, while Georgia’s is 67.6 percent.

“You look at the history of championship football games,” Wilson said, “there’s not a lot of 9-7, 13-10 ballgames.”

To Wilson’s point, the results of the CFP Championship Games since the inception of the four-team playoff in 2014:

• 2014, Ohio State 42, Oregon 20

• 2015 Alabama 45, Clemson 40

• 2016 Clemson 35, Alabama 31

• 2017 Alabama 26, Georgia 23

• 2018 Clemson 44, Alabama 16

• 2019 LSU 42, Clemson 25

• 2020 Alabama 52, Ohio State 24

• 2021 Georgia 33, Alabama 18