Ohio State says it wasn't 'battle tested' before. That's about to change — SkimNews
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- Jeremiah Smith said Ohio State "[wasn't] battle tested" entering last year's College Football Playoff, having played only one meaningful fourth-quarter game in the regular season — the season-opening 14-7 win over Texas in Columbus
- Ryan Day said he "designed" Ohio State's entire offseason and preseason around winning big road matchups, beginning with Saturday's rematch at No. 4 Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
- Ohio State faces six preseason Top 25 opponents this season, including four on the road — Texas, Iowa (Oct. 3), Indiana (Oct. 17), and USC (Oct. 31) — with Oregon also visiting Columbus on Nov. 7
- Texas is a slight favorite on DraftKings; if the line holds, it would be only the 14th time since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 that an AP No. 1 team is an underdog in a regular-season game
- The Longhorns are 20-1 at home since the start of the 2023 season, loaded up with blue-chip WR transfer Cam Coleman and returned 13 starters, including preseason All-America pass rusher Colin Simmons
- Last season Ohio State entered the Big Ten title game having gone more than three months without playing a one-score game, then lost 13-10 to Indiana and was eliminated 24-14 by Miami in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal
- Two years ago, Ohio State recovered from a one-point loss at Oregon and a stunning home loss to Michigan to win all four playoff games by double digits, claiming the program's first national title since 2014
Why it matters: Ohio State's players and coaches are publicly framing this slate as deliberate muscle memory for the CFP — Day said he built the offseason around fourth-quarter reps on the road, and with six ranked opponents and an opener at a 20-1 home Texas squad, the plan either pays off in January or exposes a team that lost twice as the No. 1 seed a year ago.
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