COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State stars Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin agree on what the Buckeyes were missing entering last season’s College Football Playoff.
“We [weren’t] battle tested,” Smith said. “We played one team and that was in late August.
“We definitely going to be battle tested this year -- and it’s going to show a lot at the end of the season.”
That one team was Texas, which arrived in Columbus for the opener ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls. Ohio State staved off the Longhorns in the fourth quarter to win 14-7.
The Buckeyes wouldn’t play another meaningful fourth quarter until the postseason.
But there, they couldn’t rally past Indiana in the Big Ten championship game or complete a comeback against Miami in a playoff quarterfinal, ending their season.
“This year we have a better schedule, a tougher schedule,” Sayin said. “I think it’s going to be good for us. We just didn’t have that many tough games in the [regular season] -- and you need that.”
Ohio State should have plenty of them this season.
