COTTON BOWL

College Football Playoff quarterfinal

No. 2 Ohio State (12-1) vs. No. 10 Miami (11-2)

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET

Arlington, Texas (AT&T Stadium)

Consensus odds: Ohio State -9.5, Total 41.5 points

Defending national champion Ohio State returns to the College Football Playoff for the seventh time in 12 years on Wednesday night, in what will be the first game for the Buckeyes since losing the Big Ten championship game to Indiana.

The 25-day break for the Buckeyes was not a vacation for No. 10 Miami, which won a heart-stopper at Texas A&M (10-3) in the first round last week to set up a rematch of the BCS National Championship game played in Jan. 2003.

There is no rest for the winner with a game Thursday (Jan. 8), a CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl where either No. 3 Georgia or No. 6 Ole Miss will be the opponent. The SEC foes square off in a rematch of their regular-season shootout on Jan. 1 at the Sugar Bowl for the right to head to Arizona.

Ohio State, playing in the Cotton Bowl Classic for the third consecutive year, is No. 2 in CFP wins with seven. Only Alabama (10) has more.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ohio State

WR Jeremiah Smith had 19 receptions for 381 yards and five TDs in last year’s four games as the Buckeyes marched to the national title. Smith, a two-time All-American and only a sophomore, averages 90.5 receiving yards per game. He has 80 receptions for 1,086 and 11 TD catches.

LB Sonny Styles might get lost in the national conversation about do-it-all safety Caleb Downs, a projected top-10 pick in the 2026 draft. But Styles’ production puts him in an elite class. He had a team high 45 solo tackles and led the team in total tackles. Among his top showings with the Buckeyes was a 26-total tackle effort in the 2024 CFP win over No. 7 Tennessee.

Miami

DE Rueben Bain Jr.

Bain destroyed Texas A&M with 3.0 sacks last week in the CFP first round upset in College Station. Bain was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year also had a blocked field goal and four total tackles for loss against the Aggies. With injury concerns up front, Ohio State might be forced to commit extra blockers to control the agile, explosive and powerful Bain.

QB Carson Beck

Not all of Miami’s players are CFP newbies.

Beck is 35-5 all-time as a starter and the Georgia transfer joined the 10,000-yard passing club this season. Playing behind an offensive line that used the same starting five all season, Beck could be an X-factor in the chess match with Ohio State’s speedy defense.

COMING IN APRIL

Downs will be a first-round pick after helping the Buckeyes rank first nationally in total defense (213.5 yards per game), scoring defense (8.2 points) and passing yards (129.1). He is third on the team with 60 tackles (40 solo) with five tackles for loss, two interceptions and a sack. He will start in the playoffs for a third straight season; he was a freshman at Alabama in 2023.

BABY JESUS

The country will get to know Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney is this season’s version of Smith, setting the school single-season record for catches with 89. He’s just a freshman, but his reputation is enormous.

Nicknamed “Baby Jesus,” Toney scored the game-winning touchdown at Texas A&M.

He has 992 yards and eight touchdowns — also Miami freshman records plus 20 carries for 98 yards and a TD while averaging 15.8 yards on 17 punt returns.

“He’s their gadget guy,” Ohio State defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. said. “He can do everything. I mean, just coming in as a freshman, he’s supposed to be in high school right now.”

–Field Level Media