The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff comes down to the final three teams. The second semifinal pits No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes against No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night, Jan. 9.
Ohio State is the odds-on favorite to win the national title after crushing the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round and then jumping out to a massive lead against the top-seed Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. They won that quarterfinal game 41-21.
The Buckeyes offense has been balanced and explosive with quarterback Will Howard at the helm, and the defense has been nearly unbeatable. They allowed opponents just 12 points per game and proved why they are the top unit in the country.
But Ohio State head coach Ryan Day says none of those statistics will matter on Friday.
“The truth is nothing that Ohio State has done, or Texas has done up until this week, has anything to do with what’s going to happen in this game. Zero. If you think otherwise, just go back and look at where we were a couple weeks ago. Every single week the slate is wiped clean,” Day said, referring to the Buckeyes’ loss to Michigan in the regular season finale.
On the other side, Texas will also lean on its shut-down defense, ranked fourth in the nation. They’ve already shut down the Clemson Tigers in first-round action. They also survived an overtime thriller against Arizona State to advance to the Cotton Bowl.
Arlington is just a three-hour drive from the University of Texas in Austin. The motivation is there, too. After losing in the national semifinals a year ago, they’ll need a fast start as a 6-point underdog.
“I think good programs believe in their formula, and part of our formula is our opening scripts. And that’s not gonna change this week either,” said Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian. “I’ll probably have a press conference at the end where I’ll say, ‘Man, the opening script was great –– why did it work?’ Or I’m gonna have one where [I say], ‘What happened? What was wrong?’”
An “x factor” in this semifinal could be how well Texas protects quarterback Quinn Ewers. In their only two losses this season, both to Georgia, he was sacked a combined 13 times. Now they face a Buckeyes front that sacked Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel eight times in the Rose Bowl.
The team that wins Friday will play in the National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 20.
Editor’s note: In a previous version of this story, Straight Arrow News incorrectly reported the name of the Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback as Will Smith. The quarterback’s name is actually Will Howard. Straight Arrow News deeply regrets this error, which has been corrected as of 1/10/2025.
