Ohio State ready to tackle top-seeded Alabama in Sugar Bowl

Ohio State went into the Big Ten championship game as an underdog with a third-team quarterback making his first start against a top-ranked defense. No one knew what to expect from the Buckeyes.

The pleasant surprise was the springboard Ohio State needed to catapult TCU into the inaugural College Football Playoff. As the No. 4 seed, the Buckeyes will play Alabama in a rekindling of a coaching rivalry between Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, who won his first Big Ten title. Between the two coaches they have won six national championships.

Their quarterbacks, who took wildly different paths to tonight’s game at the Superdome in New Orleans, will be critical to the outcome.

Alabama quarterback Blake Sims recovered from a three-interception performance against Auburn in the regular-season finale with a remarkable performance against Missouri in the SEC championship game. He was 23-of-27 passing for 262 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-13 victory and also had a 17-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up a Tide touchdown.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player go through any more than Blake went through for four years as a player, and never once did he ever not do whatever he needed to do to help the team,” Saban said.

With third quarterback Cardale Jones running the offense with the poise of a veteran and the defense playing lights out, Ohio State rolled to a 59-0 victory over the Big Ten West champion Wisconsin in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

“My coaches did an unbelievable job preparing me to play on that stage — the biggest stage of the season. All the credit goes to the them,” Jones said Tuesday.

Jones said he prepared as the starter for two years, and he wants teammates to trust he will deliver in the biggest game of their lives. That was a far cry from 2013 spring practice, when Meyer went to Jones to tell him to “get my act together or you won’t be here.”

“You never know when your time comes,” Jones said.

When the selection committee made the announcement, Ohio State (12-1) was in as the “clear cut” No. 4 seed and paired against top-seeded Alabama (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1.

The winner advances to the CFP championship game on Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas, to face the team that emerges from the Rose Bowl — either No. 2 seed Oregon or No. 3 seed Florida State.