Ohio State Is Hunting for Another Title, but This Time the Motivation Is Different

Despite missing out on perfection, the Buckeyes are leaning on belief rather than last year’s rivalry-fueled edge.

Ohio State safety Caleb Downs (2) and linebacker Arvell Reese celebrate during a game this season. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ARLINGTON, Texas — During what turned out to be a romp through the College Football Playoff last season, Ohio State players did not hide that they had an extra bit of motivation every time they took the field. 

Not only were the Buckeyes looking ahead to the prospect of winning a national championship like every one of the 12 teams in the field, they were also doing a bit of looking behind. They entered the postseason fresh off an incredibly perplexing loss to Michigan that led to plenty of skepticism outside of Columbus, Ohio, about the team’s ability to win it all. Truthfully, judging by the number of fans who gave up tickets to their Tennessee counterparts ahead of the teams’ first-round meeting at the Horseshoe last December, there was some of that thinking inside the city as well.

No one in scarlet and gray will say the 13–10 loss to the Wolverines was actually a good thing, but there’s little question it refocused a talented group and served as a much needed spark that sent Ohio State to its first national title in a decade.

FREE. SI College Football Newsletter. Get SI's College Football Newsletter. dark

A number of those same Buckeyes will take the field Wednesday night in the Cotton Bowl for their 2025 playoff debut coming off of a devastating loss by the same scoreline. However, it’s clear that falling to top-seeded Indiana in the Big Ten title game doesn’t quite serve as the same kind of inspiration.

“We were trying to do something different and that’s go undefeated,” says star receiver Jeremiah Smith. “We didn’t really play our best, but we can’t really focus on that. We have to focus on what’s ahead of us and that’s playing against Miami—a very good football team.”

Without missing a beat though, the supremely confident Smith then followed that up with this prediction: “We’re going to see Indiana again.”

All with Ohio State hope that will be the case to avenge the Buckeyes’ lone blemish and to make it all the way to Miami for the national title game—a rare opportunity to be in a position to win back-to-back national championships.

It would also be a chance to correct a number of the mistakes and errors that led to the Hoosiers’ triumph in the conference title game which sent them to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl as the playoff’s No. 1 team and meant Ohio State would be making its third straight trip to Texas for the Cotton Bowl.

“We didn’t play our best football in that last game. And definitely, the guys on offense, we’re a little bit pissed off because we could have done so much better execution-wise,” quarterback Julian Sayin said. “It starts with me. So I think we’re just watching the film and seeing how can we improve and execute better so we make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Indiana’s defense sacked Julian Sayin (10) five times in the Big Ten Championship Game. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sayin was 21 of 29 for 258 yards and threw the team’s only touchdown in the Big Ten championship game, but also tossed an early interception and was harassed into taking five sacks during one of the rare off games for an offense which seemingly had its way with every other opponent during Big Ten play.

Ohio State has had 23 days to replay many of those mistakes and has been waiting for the opportunity to return to action. 

“Our guys, they’re tired of going against each other. It’s been chippy the past few days. They’re tired of practicing against each other,” head coach Ryan Day said. “So, that’s a good sign. That means we’re ready to hit somebody else. These guys are highly, highly motivated, and they know that sometimes the most difficult game is the first one in the playoff.”

That didn’t appear to be the case in 2024 given that Ohio State leapt out to a 21-point first-quarter lead in the first round against Tennessee, but taking on Miami after such a long layoff poses a much more difficult challenge this season. Not only are the Hurricanes battle-tested from their pre-Christmas win at Texas A&M, but they also sport a defense that is allowing just 13 points per game and feature one of the nation’s most dynamic young freshmen in receiver Malachi Toney. 

“At the end of the day, we were hungry both times, and that’s what this is,” All-American defender Caleb Downs says of the comparisons to last year. “We have to play hungry and go out and get a win, no matter the circumstances and no matter the situation.”

“When you lose your rivalry game, it’s a little different. We have expectations to win everything and we wanted to be the first team to be 16–0. That obviously won’t be the case, but it doesn’t change the way we’ve operated,” added offensive coordinator Brian Hartline. “We’re really focused on where we’re at right now, and not necessarily reminiscing on last year.”

The current team may not be reminiscing, but many Buckeyes fans making the same trip to North Texas will certainly be doing their fair share of it. After all, AT&T Stadium was where the school won the first edition of the College Football Playoff in 2015. The New Year’s Eve contest against Miami is bringing up plenty of excuses to show highlights of Ohio State’s controversial win over the Hurricanes in the 2003 BCS national championship game. 

That’s a number of historical confluences pointing in the direction of a Buckeyes win just before the ball drops to ring in the new year, which does not seem to be lost on a supremely assertive bunch of players who are not dwelling as much as you would think on their most recent, if similarly unexpected, result entering the playoff this time around.

“We know we’re going to win it all,” receiver Carnell Tate said. “I’m very excited for my guys. There’s a lot of new guys here. A lot of new guys [who need] to get hardware and old guys from last year too, [trying to get] their second hardware.”

No, there may not be the same maize and blue motivation for this year’s Ohio State team, but the self-confidence and belief in the ultimate goal sure hasn’t changed for the reigning national champions either. 

---

More College Football from Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

feed