this Buckeyes team is fake tough. Ryan Day wants to prove to everyone that he can coach a physical team but the asshat overlooks the fact that all of his talent is on the perimeter. You can’t have a tough team if its built from the outside in.
For example, are the Atlanta Falcons tough? God no. Why? Because they’re clown GM decided a lazy Kyle Pitts made for a better selection in the first round than Penei Sewell, Micah Parsons and Rashawn Slater. You can’t be tough when you prioritize receivers, tight ends and running backs over offensive and defensive linemen. I’m sorry. Fans will give you the seal clap when you take a wide receiver in the top-10 because that’s all fans care about. If fans could build a football team with one quarterback and 51 wide receivers, they would. But that’s not a good way to build a winner.
Back to Ohio State. They’re built from the outside in. They should embrace that by throwing the ball all over the yard like they often do against the rest of the teams in the overrated Big Ten not named Michigan. Instead, they have a head coach with an inferiority complex, so he tries to run the ball when that’s not a strength of his team.
All I’m saying is…Tennessee has a chance to win this game outright.
Tennessee vs. Ohio State Prediction: Tennessee Vols +7
That's extremely impressive.
Plus, it doesn’t help that Clemson starting running back Phil Mafah is banged up. I don’t see how the Tigers find enough consistent offense to cover the number.
Additionally, who has Clemson played? It got embarrassed by Georgia at a neutral site, lost to Louisville at home and lost to South Carolina in the regular-season finale.
The schedule is not impressive, and it nearly blew a massive lead to SMU in the ACC Championship. The Tigers are in for a rude awakening against the Longhorns.
The Texas offense has been struggling, and a lack of a consistent running game has hurt it. I believe backup quarterback Arch Manning gives the Longhorns a much better chance to win it all, but Quinn Ewers should do enough against the Tigers defense to lead his team to a comfortable win in Austin.
Speaking of which, Clemson really struggles to prevent explosives through the air, which won't help its offense in the game. Expect an all-out effort from the Horns in a comfortable win.
Pick:
South Dakota State has consistently ranked atop the FCS in most major defensive metrics all season, and features four all-conference players in the secondary.
The Jackrabbits are surrendering just 13 points per game and 280 yards per game on the season.
Over the last four weeks, the opposition has achieved just 58 yards per game on the ground and 2.3 yards per carry on average.
North Dakota State struggled at times against Abilene Christian to assert itself physically, and we saw a somewhat lackluster effort last week against Mercer on the ground. That's not going to cut it this week against the Jackrabbits.
When these two squared off in the first meeting, South Dakota State had some internal friction at the time surrounding play-calling and how offensive skill-position players were being utilized.
That has worked itself out for the better, and breakout sophomore receiver Griffin Wilde has become more involved early in games. He has two receiving touchdowns in each of the two playoff games and will be a real X-factor here.
North Dakota State grades out poorly in PFF Tackling grade, and the South Dakota State running backs can create missed tackles in space at a high rate. This will be a tough assignment for the Bison front seven.
This Dakota Marker rematch will be a highly competitive game throughout, but I fully expect South Dakota State to capitalize in situations they were unable to in the first meeting. The Jacks win this one by a touchdown or more.
Pick:
Established in 1995,
Hot Forum Topics
