Who Could Be This Year's Ohio State?
It was late on the night of September 6, 2014, but then-No. 8 Ohio State’s season, sitting at 1-1, was over.
The vultures were circling moments after the team fell 35-21 to Virginia Tech, and the outlook for Urban Meyer’s program (and the Big Ten in general) seemed to be relegated to a nice postseason trip to a Florida bowl game if it was lucky.
The Buckeyes had just lost for the third time in their past four games and given up seven sacks to Bud Foster’s tough Hokies defense. There were calls to bench quarterback J.T. Barrett after he threw three interceptions in just his second start, and even Meyer’s personally coached unit of special teams had failed OSU that night several times, including with a 24-yard punt to set up a touchdown.
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“We just gotta get a lot better. And that starts tomorrow,” Meyer said in his press conference at the time. “We had a good meeting as a team. You really find out about people. And I have a lot of confidence that some of these young people—now they're veteran guys—that are going to get better and better each week.”
As hard as it was to believe when those coachspeak words left Meyer’s mouth, that’s exactly what happened with the Buckeyes. They grew up and got better. Barrett was selected to the All-Big Ten first team, and the offensive line went from a weakness to a strength in a hurry. By the end of the season, even with third-stringer Cardale Jones behind center, there was no stopping or slowing down Ohio State.
The College Football Playoff selection committee took notice and, despite the objections of plenty, put the Buckeyes in the final four. The rest is history, with the team completing a remarkable postseason run to capture the national title.
Who can follow in their footsteps in 2015 and make a run despite suffering an early loss? Here are a few candidates:
Alabama
Lost to: Ole Miss 43-37
Why it can make a run: The Crimson Tide are already being anointed by some as the team to beat in the SEC even if that’s not quite true in reality. There’s plenty of talent on this squad, including tailback Derrick Henry and emerging stars like Minkah Fitzpatrick. The quarterback play has steadily improved with Jake Coker under center, and the offensive line has started to jell.
If you look at how the team plays in the second half of games, it’s clear it's getting great coaching and making great adjustments. Just as important is its schedule sets up nicely: It gets a bye before hosting LSU and then closes out November with Mississippi State, an FCS team and a bad Auburn squad.
This isn’t the Alabama we’re used to seeing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the playoff.
Notre Dame
Lost to: Clemson 24-22
Why it can make a run: Despite dealing with nearly half of their preseason starters finding some sort of injury, the Irish have persevered and remained in firm playoff contention.
Quarterback DeShone Kizer has improved each week, and he is a threat to score in multiple ways each snap. C.J. Prosise has proved to be plenty capable of handling the rushing load, and you’d be hard-pressed to find as deep a group of pass-catchers than the team in South Bend, Indiana, has. Throw in an attacking defense led by Sheldon Day and terrific linebacker Jaylon Smith, and one can see how the team can make the playoff.
The schedule also helps this year, with the narrow loss (in a driving rainstorm) against Clemson not looking bad at all and the potential for as many as five Top 25 wins by the time December rolls around.
Stanford
Lost to: Northwestern 16-6
Why it can make a run: It could be argued that nobody in the country has played as well as Stanford has the past six weeks.
After listening to calls for him to change play-calling duties, head coach David Shaw has really opened things up and gotten more creative, as Stanford has scored at least 31 points in six straight. The defense is opportunistic as ever despite being fairly young in key spots, and running back Christian McCaffrey has entered the Heisman conversation by leading the FBS in all-purpose yardage by about 40 yards per game over his nearest competitor.
A win over Notre Dame (and likely Utah) at the end of the year would be a nice resume booster to show the committee too.
Oklahoma
Lost to: Texas 24-17
Why it can make a run: Anything can happen in rivalry games, but few expected the Sooners to be bullied and nearly run off the field by the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry game at the beginning of the month. They’ve responded since then, including a very impressive throttling of Texas Tech on Saturday that showed the team did have some hope in slowing down an Air Raid offense.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield has the moxie to lead the team on a big run and win the Big 12 while it seems as though the run game is finally developing into the threat it was supposed to be coming out of fall camp.
They get TCU at home in late November as part of a three-game stretch against ranked opponents that will determine what kind of year it will be in Norman, Oklahoma. Based on the way they’ve played at times, it can’t be put past Bob Stoops winning another Big 12 title, especially considering the opening they’ve received with Seth Russell’s injury at Baylor.
Utah
Lost to: USC 42-24
Why it can make a run: The Utes were run off the field by the Trojans, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody outside of Salt Lake City who thought they could survive the Pac-12 South unscathed.
The schedule is completely manageable, and the Utes can say quarterback Travis Wilson got his turnover-filled game out of the way at the Coliseum.
They have the kind of team that coaches would love to have: They run the ball, play physical defense and are top-notch on special teams. UCLA could still be tricky in late November, but that’s at home. If the Utes win the last five games of the regular season, the Pac-12 title game will determine whether they go to the playoff.
Florida
Lost to: LSU 35-28
Why it can make a run: Even being on this list should tell you how good of a job head coach Jim McElwain and his staff have done with the Gators. Because they’re in the East, the schedule sets up quite nicely for the team, and Saturday’s game against Georgia may very well be the toughest left.
The defense is fast and features one of the best defenders in the country in cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III. Quarterback remains a question mark, but Treon Harris has proved to be capable of winning games, and the skill position talent has performed well no matter who has been behind center.
A fairly close road loss to LSU isn’t a bad mark against Florida at all, and beating whoever comes out of the West in Atlanta will boost its resume. It’s still crazy to see the Gators in a position to make a playoff run, but that’s exactly what they’re primed to do with a few breaks elsewhere.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
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