Ohio State is wary of Georgia tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington ahead of Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal (8 p.m., ESPN) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Bowers leads the team in receptions (52) and yards (726) and has six touchdowns. Washington has 26 catches for 417 yards with two touchdowns.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said their versatility – Bowers has lined up as a tight end, running back or wide receiver – allows them to “do damage from the line of scrimmage.” Bowers is the only player in FBS this season with a rushing TD of at least 75 yards and a receiving TD of at least 75 yards.
Knowles said he expects the Bulldogs to run some two tight-end sets. His group will have to adjust if either tight end slides out wide or moves into the backfield.
“... They’re certainly dangerous wherever they line up,” Knowles said.
Long time: Ohio State hasn’t played since losing to Michigan 45-23 on Nov. 26. Several Buckeyes said they are ready to get on the field.
“It’s been a month since we’ve played,” said linebacker Steele Chambers, who played in high school at Blessed Trinity. “But you can tell even in practice, everyone’s got a chip on their shoulder. So the last month of practice, everyone’s been going at it full tilt. And I think you can really see this on Saturday.”
Knowles and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said their groups have had good practices in the past weeks.
“We’re anxious,” Knowles said. “I mean the guys, they have an edge. I know they’re grateful for the opportunity to be playing on the biggest stage and really just want to go out and play their best.”
Nittany Bulldogs: The answer came reluctantly, but a few Ohio State players said Georgia’s offense most reminds them of Penn State’s.
Ohio State defeated Penn State 44-31 on Oct. 29 at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions totaled 482 yards, including 371 passing.
“I’ll just say scheme-wise and the way they use their tight ends and whatnot, Penn State probably is what I’d say,” defensive end Jack Sawyer said.
Safety Lathan Ransom and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg hinted that the real answer may be Michigan, but they didn’t want to say that, so they agreed with Sawyer.
“I feel like y’all know the answer to that, but I’m fixing to just say Penn State, too,” Ransom said.
Coming together: The loss to Michigan resulted in Ohio State’s players becoming closer, some of them said.
“I just think you find out who’s really there with you when things aren’t going well, and when things didn’t go our way, we still had each other,” Sawyer said, “and it was big just being able to lean on each other through that time and know we got a second chance at life, so to speak, with the playoffs, which I thought we deserved to be in anyway, but we’ve just got that much tighter, and I know the last month of practice has been really great with the whole team, offense and defense, and so definitely thought the adversity brought us a lot closer together through that past month.”
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