Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530431
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 45 C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F In what might be best described as one of the strangest seasons in recent program history, No. 2 Ohio State seemed poised to punch its ticket to the Big Ten Championship Game for a record seventh time. All it had to do was beat a mediocre and unranked Michigan team at home in the Horseshoe Nov. 30, and the Buckeyes were in. Instead, the Wolverines pulled a 13-10 upset and knocked the Buckeyes out of the conference title game in one of the biggest upsets of this college football season. No matter, as a top-five team almost all of this season, Ohio State was still safely in the 12-team field, even with two losses. But the nagging question as it enters the CFP is how much will the Michigan loss impact the psyche of the Buckeyes and their head coach Ryan Day? Both program and coach have come under intense scrutiny since the loss, given the Ohio State football program paid more than $20 million in NIL money this offseason to assemble a national championship team. On the field, the Buckeyes were led by the No. 1 defense in the country, allowing only 241.1 yards and 10.9 points per game. A balanced unit, the Ohio State defense ranked sixth nationally against the run and seventh against the pass in the regular season. It pitched two shutouts and held six opponents to seven points or fewer. Offensively, the Buckeyes haven't been as explosive as many expected them to be this season. Ohio State ranked 38th in total offense during the regular season, av- eraging 423.5 yards a game, but a disappointing 60th in rushing offense at 169.2. That 's solid ground pro- duction, no doubt, but not what was expected in the preseason from a high-priced tailback duo of junior Quin- shon Judkins and senior TreVeyon Henderson, which was expected to be the best one-two rushing punch in the country. Ohio State and Notre Dame share only one com- mon opponent. The Buckeyes shut out lowly Purdue 45-0 Nov. 9, while Notre Dame beat the Boilers 66-7 Sept. 14. — Todd D. Burlage Team Overview: For a moment, it really felt like Tennessee might be the best team in the country. That was before we knew North Carolina State and Oklahoma were on their way to being 6-6 football teams, though. The Volunteers stormed out of the gate to a 4-0 start, rising from No. 15 to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25. That spurt included a 51-10 win over then-No. 24 North Carolina State at a neutral site and a true road win, 25-15, at then-No. 15 Oklahoma. The Vols got to their bye week feeling like they could take Alabama, Texas or Ohio State — the three teams ranked ahead of them in the AP Top 25. "The right place to be is right here, right now, being in the pres- ent," head coach Josh Heupel said when his team was 4-0. "You can look at the score- board from this past weekend and really every week- end across America — you have to be an elite com- petitor every day. You have to prepare the right way." If you don't, you can be beaten by anybody. Notre Dame found that out the hard way against Northern Illinois. Tennessee found it out against Arkansas. If this season was truly going to be different for the Volunteers, they had to find a way to beat the Razorbacks on the road coming out of a bye week. They did not. Arkansas, an eventual 6-6 team, won 19-14. "We've got to play cleaner, man," starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava said. For the most part, from then on, Tennessee did — sort of. The Vols went 6-1 down the stretch to se- cure themselves a playoff bid. But there were some close calls mixed in there, namely a 23-17 overtime escape at home against Florida and a 28-18 second-half come- back at home versus Kentucky. Tennessee split games against the two marquee opponents on the schedule in the second half of the year: the Vols beat then- No. 7 Alabama, 24-17, but lost to then-No. 12 Georgia, 31-17. After losing to Arkansas, Tennessee's path was always winning every game against everyone not named Alabama and Georgia and going 1-1 in those matchups. To Heupel and Co's credit, they got it done. Even if they aren't one of the premier championship contenders, the Volunteers are in the tournament. That's always step No. 1. — Tyler Horka NO. 9 Tennessee Volunteers NO. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 9 Tennes- see Dec. 21 in Columbus, Ohio Potential Quarterfinal Opponent: No. 1 Oregon Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl at Pasa- dena, Calif. 2024 Record: 10-2, 7-2 Big Ten Head coach: Ryan Day (66-10, seventh season at OSU and overall) Soonest the Irish could see them: Col- lege Football Playoff National Champion- ship Jan. 20 in Atlanta All-time series vs. Notre Dame: Ohio State leads 6-2 Last meeting vs. Notre Dame: Buckeyes 17, Irish 14 (Sept. 23, 2023, at South Bend) First-Round Matchup: at No. 8 Ohio State Dec. 21 in Columbus, Ohio Potential Quarterfinal Opponent: No. 1 Oregon Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif. 2024 Record: 10-2, 6-2 SEC Head coach: Josh Heupel (37-14, fourth season at UT; 65-22, sev- enth season overall) Soonest the Irish could see them: College Football Playoff National Championship Jan. 20 in Atlanta All-time series vs. Notre Dame: Tied 4-4 Last meeting vs. Notre Dame: Irish 41, Volunteers 21 (Nov. 5, 2005, at South Bend) 2024 STAT LEADERS Rushing: RB Quinshon Judkins (805 yards, 8 TD) Passing: QB Will Howard (2,860 yards, 27 TD, 8 INT) Receiving: WR Jeremiah Smith (934 yards, 10 TD) Tackles: S Sonny Styles (76) Sacks: DE JT Tuimoloau (6) Interceptions: CB Denzel Burke and CB Davi- son Igbinosun (2) 2024 SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Akron W, 52-6 Sept. 7 Western Michigan W, 56-0 Sept. 21 Marshall W, 49-14 Sept. 28 at Michigan State W, 38-7 Oct. 5 Iowa W, 35-7 Oct. 12 at Oregon L, 32-31 Oct. 26 Nebraska W, 21-17 Nov. 2 at Penn State W, 20-13 Nov. 9 Purdue W, 45-0 Nov. 16 at Northwestern W, 31-7 Nov. 23 Indiana W, 38-15 Nov. 30 Michigan L, 13-10 Dec. 21 Tennessee^ (ABC/ESPN) 8 p.m. ^ College Football Playoff first round 2024 STAT LEADERS Rushing: RB Dylan Sampson (1,485 yards, 22 TD) Passing: QB Nico Iamaleava (2,512 yards, 19 TD, 5 INT) Receiving: WR Dont'e Thornton Jr. (647 yards, 6 TD) Tackles: LB Arion Carter (65) Sacks: DE James Pearce Jr. (7.5) Interceptions: CB Jermod McCoy (4) 2024 SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 Chattanooga W, 69-3 Sept. 7 vs. NC State* W, 51-10 Sept. 14 Kent State W, 71-0 Sept. 21 at Oklahoma W, 25-15 Oct. 5 at Arkansas L, 19-14 Oct. 12 Florida W, 23-17 (OT) Oct. 19 Alabama W, 24-17 Nov. 2 Kentucky W, 28-18 Nov. 9 Mississippi State W, 33-14 Nov. 16 at Georgia L, 31-17 Nov. 23 UTEP W, 56-0 Nov. 30 at Vanderbilt W, 36-23 Dec. 21 at Ohio State^ (ABC/ESPN) 8 p.m. * at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. ^ College Football Playoff first round