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Stakes: Winner advances to the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Oregon
When: Saturday, December 21 at 8 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN)
Defense, defense, defense. The should be the story of Tennessee’s journey to challenge Ohio State in the Horseshoe.
So of course expect 70 total points. Just kidding…I think.
Both programs have top-five defenses that average less than 4.5 yards per snap and 300 yards per game, truly elite numbers. No unit gave up more than 10 gains of 30 yards the whole season. For this reason, it’s theoretically likely that Saturday’s prime time will be a defensive effort.
After watching OSU implode in the loss to Michigan, I can’t say with certainty that the Buckeyes would survive such a matchup. Their injury-riddled offensive line is also a concern for UT’s pass rush.
However, the deciding factor could be OSU’s receiving corps against Tennessee’s secondary corps. While the latter was largely solid, UT’s two losses came as the insurance group faltered. With Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka on the Buckeyes, that’s clearly a possibility.
I’m expecting an ugly home win for Ohio State, but that’s certainly not something I’d want to put pen to paper.
forecast: Ohio State 23, Tennessee 20
