Ohio
Dominant Ohio State headlines College Football Playoff winners and losers
Ryan Day discusses Ohio State’s rise back to dominance after beating Oregon
Just weeks ago fans and pundits were calling for Ryan Day’s job at Ohio State and now the Buckeyes are headed to the semifinal after beating Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Sports Pulse
The big question coming out of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals: Can anyone beat Ohio State?
After demolishing Tennessee in the opening round, Ohio State rolled out to a 34-0 lead and cruised to a 41-21 win against previously unbeaten Oregon in the Rose Bowl. In the month-plus since losing to rival Michigan for the fourth year in a row, the Buckeyes have turned back into a juggernaut.
OSU will next take on Texas, which rode Quinn Ewers’ late-game heroics and survived a major scare against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. Ahead 24-8 in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns needed double overtime to escape with a 39-31 win. Beating the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl will take more consistency than what Texas brought into the matchup against the Sun Devils.
Penn State slowed down Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and scored a 31-14 win against the Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions have outscored two playoff opponents by a combined 69-24.
They’ll meet Notre Dame, which scored 17 points in a 54-second span across the second and third quarters to beat Georgia 23-10 in a Sugar Bowl delayed one day following the deadly attack in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.
The national semifinals will begin on Jan. 9 with Ohio State as the favorite for the national championship. Before looking ahead, here are the winners and losers from the quarterfinals:
Winners
Ohio State
Oregon never stood a chance. After topping OSU 32-31 in the regular season, the Ducks were swamped by one of the most electric offensive performances in Rose Bowl history. The Buckeyes put up an even 500 yards of offense on 8.8 yards per play, led by quarterback Will Howard’s 319 passing yards and three touchdowns without an interception. The backfield pairing of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins combined for 179 yards and two scores, both from Henderson, on 25 carries. But the star was freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith, who looked more than NFL-ready with 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 26.7 yards per catch. Not to be outdone, the OSU defense had eight sacks, 13 tackles for loss and became the first team to hold Oregon under 300 yards since Utah in the 2021 Pac-12 championship game.
Ryan Day
Day has exorcised the bad vibes stemming from another loss to the Wolverines by orchestrating this dominant start to the playoff. Going into the 12-team tournament, the thought was Day had to win at least one and maybe two games to get himself into more secure territory with the OSU fan base; so far, consider this a job well-done. But you have to ask: Given how they’ve looked in these two games, would Day come under fire again if the Buckeyes don’t win the whole thing?
Notre Dame
Beating Georgia marks Notre Dame’s biggest win in years and solidifies the school’s decision to gamble on an unproven Marcus Freeman three years ago. Credit the Fighting Irish for taking advantage of the opportunities provided by Georgia’s missteps, including a crucial fumble and a strip-sack that resulted in a Riley Leonard touchdown late in the second quarter. The Irish also returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a score. On the other hand, Leonard averaged just 3.8 yards per attempt, though he did have 65 yards on the ground; the receiver corps really struggled to get separation against Georgia’s secondary, with a long reception of just 14 yards; and the typically potent backfield pairing of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price had only 51 yards on 13 carries. Notre Dame also went just 2 of 10 on third down and scored just two field goals outside of the 54-second barrage that decided the game.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions’ defense got the job done against Boise State despite losing star edge rusher Abdul Carter to an apparent arm injury in the first half. That sapped what is typically a very strong pass rush and made things a little easier for Boise quarterback Maddux Madsen. But the defense was up to the challenge of stopping Jeanty, who had his worst game in what had been a memorable 2024 season. If we’re nitpicking another double-digit playoff win, PSU made the curious choice to shy away from a very effective running game and had several questionable play-calling decisions on short-yardage plays, allowing the Broncos to hang around longer than expected before the Nittany Lions delivered the knockout blow on Nick Singleton’s 58-yard touchdown run.
Quinn Ewers
Texas survived and advanced despite Cam Skattebo’s best efforts. The senior put together perhaps the most impressive individual performance of the postseason, running for 143 yards and two scores, pulling down a team-high 99 receiving yards and even throwing a 42-yard touchdown that sparked the Sun Devils’ fourth-quarter comeback. But Ewers had one of the best games of his college career with a terrific final stretch. He was perfect on the final drive of regulation to set up a missed 38-yard field goal and then threw a pair of touchdowns in overtime, including a ridiculous 28-yard strike on fourth down to force the second extra frame.
Losers
Oregon
That Oregon lost might not be surprising, even given the regular-season win against the Buckeyes. What was startling, though, was the ease with which OSU marched through the only unbeaten team remaining in the Bowl Subdivision and the playoff’s unquestioned top seed. This might not force Oregon to return to the drawing board — this team was the best in the country during the regular season, with wins against the Buckeyes, Broncos and Nittany Lions. But this is a definite letdown that will lead to some offseason soul-searching in Eugene.
Georgia
A startling number of mistakes doomed any chance Georgia had of winning with backup Gunner Stockton starting in place of an injured Carson Beck. Stockton acquitted himself well, all things considered, completing 18 of 29 throws for 225 yards and a score, but his fumble after being sacked with under a minute to play in the first half led to Notre Dame’s first touchdown. Running back Trevor Etienne’s fumble late in the first quarter ended a 71-yard drive that lasted over eight minutes. Georgia also committed a crucial offsides penalty to extend Notre Dame’s backbreaking drive late in the fourth quarter. But you can toss out the self-inflicted errors and focus on something even more painful for Georgia: Notre Dame was the better team in the Sugar Bowl, and it wasn’t that close.
Arizona State
There might not be a huge sense of disappointment around ASU after an amazing push to the Big 12 championship and the program-establishing double-overtime loss to the Longhorns. (At a minimum, there’s no doubt there would have been much more heartbreak on the opposite sideline had Texas lost.) What the Sun Devils achieved this season will probably make them the preseason Big 12 favorite heading into next September and one of the top contenders to get back into the playoff. But there were missed chances here to take down the Longhorns, not to mention a dose of controversy: Officials didn’t call a targeting on Texas defensive back Michael Taafe on a third-down completion during the Sun Devils’ final drive of regulation, which would’ve set up ASU for the potential game-winning field goal.
Ashton Jeanty
That Jeanty still went for 104 yards against one of the top run defenses in the FBS should be commended, even if that total was 23 yards shy of his previous season low and even if the Nittany Lions became the first FBS opponent to keep the Heisman Trophy runner-up out of the end zone. Disappointingly, however, Jeanty came up just short of Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. That shouldn’t detract from one of the best years by a running back in FBS history.
The most recent basketball season might be over for Ohio State, but in the modern era of college basketball, what happens off the court is almost just as chaotic as what happens on it. The main culprit for this is the transfer portal, and on Sunday, Ohio State’s offseason seems to have gained some traction.
According to a report, Ohio State forward Devin Royal plans to enter the transfer portal after three seasons with the Buckeyes, perhaps ending a career that began with high expectations and finished with a strong junior season. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Pickerington Central product leaves with one season of eligibility remaining after appearing in 96 of 102 games at Ohio State.
Royal arrived in Columbus as a consensus four-star recruit and Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 2023, becoming the 12th player in Ohio State basketball history to earn that honor. At Pickerington Central, he helped lead the program to a state title-game appearance in each of his final two seasons and earned first-team All-Ohio recognition as a junior and senior.
As a freshman in 2023-24, Royal played in 33 of 36 games and averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, emerging as more of a threat as the season progressed. He had a nice sophomore leap, starting 27 games and averaging 13.7 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor. Royal delivered a breakout season with six 20-point games, three double-doubles, and a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds against Valpo. He followed that with another solid season in 2025-26, starting all 32 games he played and averaging 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
Royal’s potential departure is a significant roster move because he developed into one of Ohio State’s most reliable interior scorers and rebounders. Ohio State finished No. 8 in the Big Ten this season, with a record of 21-13 and 12-8 within the conference. However, with the arrival of 5-star forward Anthony Thompson, his starting spot would seem to be very much in jeopardy.
For the Buckeyes, it may close the book on a homegrown player who went from top in-state recruit to everyday starter in three years. As of now, there aren’t any suitors known, but as all of this becomes more official, we’ll bring you further news.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Sunny on X:@thesunnyv
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio artist David Griesmyer said the colorful, resilient Cuba he’s frequented looked different his most recent trip as the island nation continues under a U.S.-induced blackout.
“To see the whole nation just plunge into darkness, it was odd,” Griesmyer said. “But then to see all the grandmas holding up battery powered lights in the dark and seeing children kicking a makeshift ball down the streets through the city, everybody was outside talking … It didn’t stop them. They’re there. There’s a fire inside of that. But it was dark. It was dark.”
The darkness was brought on by an American fuel blockade that has created a nationwide blackout and brought the tourism industry to a screeching halt. President Donald Trump has commented about a possible takeover of Cuba, where residents are living without power, heat or clean water.
The issue is front of mind for 60 Ohio artists, business and government leaders who traveled to the Havana Bienal last year, a prestigious international art festival. Ohio artists with close ties to the Cuban art scene want Ohioans to think about Cuba’s people, not its politics, as the blackout goes on.
“They are so resilient,” Michael Reese, Columbus art consultant, said. “And I just believe tomorrow’s going to be better because if they don’t go down the rabbit hole, they’ll never get out. So they just push on.”
The U.S. has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba since the 1960s, when Cuba became the center of a Cold War confrontation between two superpowers. In 1962, the Soviet Union attempted to deploy nuclear weapons to Cuba, which sits 90 miles away from the southern tip of the U.S. The attempt led to the 16-day Cuban Missile Crisis, considered the closest the Cold War came to using nuclear arms.
Cuba has been under U.S. embargo since, but the situation turned dire in January when the U.S. cut off access to Venezuela, Cuba’s main oil supplier. The U.S. has also blocked fuel and product deliveries from trading partners like Mexico.
In capital city Havana, home to 2 million people, residents are living without ways to keep food cold or operate water treatment plants. Residents can only cook using charcoal grills and have no internet access. Ohio documentarian Tariq Tarey is making a film about the Cuban people and said outside Havana, resources are scarcer.
“It is literally dark ages. Water scarce, internet is gone for weeks on end. Horse and buggy is the only thing that’s moving,” Tarey said. “It is dire. It’s absolutely dire.”
It had already been difficult to get items before the blackout. The coalition who attended the Bienal each brought a second suitcase stuffed with necessities to give away. Tarey recalled visiting a Cuban clinic and noting medical equipment that read “Made in East Germany,” a nation that has not existed for 36 years.
Columbus City Councilmember Lourdes Barrosa de Padilla was among those who traveled to the Bienal last year, accompanied by her mother and daughters. Barrosa de Padilla’s parents fled Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba, and she showed her daughters the small village her parents grew up in. Now, family tells her conditions are difficult.
“The challenge is that there’s not petroleum, there’s not cash. You cannot run a generator either,” Barrosa de Padilla said, adding a cousin had just three hours of power for a week due to the blockade.
Griesmyer was in Havana in mid-March and said the streets were empty of the thousands of tourists he’d grown used to seeing. While there, he watched the city go dark. He also witnessed an afternoon where Elon Musk used StarLink technology to temporarily give everyone in Cuba free Internet.
“This was history,” Griesmyer said. “And one of the people said to me, ‘Yes, we want electricity, but we want the freedom to be able to communicate and to to talk to people and know what’s going on.’ Because that’s scarier than not having electricity, just to not know.”
Starlink is not officially permitted to be used in Cuba, and Cuban officials allege Musk is breaking U.S. trade restrictions by providing free internet. Cuban officials are also worried about possible aggression from the U.S. as Trump threatens military intervention.
“I do believe I’ll be … having the honor of taking Cuba,” Trump said in mid-March. “Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
Barrosa de Padilla said Trump’s threats to take over Cuba are complicated. She said the people of Cuba know their current government isn’t working, but feels American intervention in other countries’ governments is not putting America First.
While visiting Cuba, Barrosa de Padilla’s mother died from a heart attack. Barrosa de Padilla said her mother took her final breath in the homeland she loved, surrounded by the poverty she fled.
“It was a beautiful end to my mother’s story because she died in her hometown with her sister, her last living sibling,” Barrosa de Padilla said. “And the place where she first opened her eyes, she closed.”
Reese and Griesmyer said despite the darkness, lack of resources and uncertainty, the people of Cuba believe things will get better. Griesmyer said neighbors share the food he brings to the island so everyone can eat. He said people are dancing through the darkness.
There is much more to the story of Ohio, art, life and Cuba. See the full story on Sunday Briefing at 10 a.m.
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