When the Sugar Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Alabama kicked off, Kirby Smart's Crimson Tide defense wasn't ready for Cardale Jones and a "buzz saw" Buckeyes offense.
That much became clear the moment Ohio State took the field. On their first offensive drive of the game, the Buckeyes netted runs of 12, 13 and 54 yards against the vaunted Alabama defense, setting up a red-zone opportunity that eventually led to a field goal.
Urban Meyer's offense continued to chew up yards against the nation's top-ranked team, but that wasn't enough to prevent Alabama from building a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter. But even with that two-score lead, Smart knew his Alabama defense was in a world of trouble.
In a radio interview with Atlanta's 680 the Fan on Monday (h/t Tony Gerdeman of The Ozone), Smart reflected on the Tide's 42-35 season-ending loss to the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff Semifinals.
"I knew early," Smart said. "We were leading, but we weren’t leading. We had not slowed them down. We had two red area stops, which were six points, could have been 14. We had a turnover, we stripped the ball. We had not slowed them down, and I’m thinking this could be 21 but it’s six."
It didn't take long for the Buckeyes to catch up. Jones led a Buckeyes surge to close out the second quarter, orchestrating two touchdown drives of 71 and 77 yards to make it a 21-20 game at the break. Despite a costly pair of turnovers and two drives stalling inside the 5-yard line, Ohio State had amassed an incredible 348 yards of total offense through 30 minutes of game action.
"They score right before the half, which we thought was deadly," Smart said. "They had a good two-minute drive and scored, and I knew we were in trouble."
Ohio State's offense picked up in the second half right where it left off in the first. On the opening drive of the second half, it only took the Buckeyes a little over two minutes to cover 75 yards—a touchdown drive that would give them a lead they would never surrender. The drive was capped by a perfectly run route by Devin Smith, who burnt the Alabama defense deep before hauling in a perfectly placed 47-yard pass from Jones.
Alabama didn't expect Jones to beat them so consistently.
After the game, Smart asked three of his top defenders—Landon Collins, Nick Perry and Jarrick Williams—where the Tide had gone wrong.
"All three of them said they did not respect the quarterback," Smart said, as he recalled the conversation. "They heard from everybody that he was a third-string quarterback. How can a third-string quarterback beat Alabama?"
It's not as hard as one would imagine when that third-string quarterback has first-round NFL Draft potential.
Jones showcased that potential in a big way against the Tide. He was efficient, completing 60 percent of his passes after missing on his first five targets. He threw for 243 yards and a touchdown and added 43 tough, hard-nosed yards on the ground as well.
"[The Coaching Staff] didn’t promote [Jones] enough and they didn’t value his talents enough," Smart said. "We had not seen him run the ball—and not a runner like Blake (Sims) and not a runner like their other guy, just big.
"This guy was just lumbering and big and ran through arm tackles, even on our big, physical defense."
That Jones was entering the game as a relative unknown wasn't a secret, though. The Crimson Tide had plenty of time to scout the Buckeyes' other playmakers, such as Smith and Ezekiel Elliott, but they underestimated their abilities as well.
"I’m faulting us because we didn’t do a good enough job selling our kids," Smart said. What [the Buckeyes] did, they brought an unbelievable running back to the forefront, because they weren’t trying to run the quarterback as much. They had three great wideouts who nobody ever saw because the quarterbacks that were there didn’t have great throwing skills. That kid, No. 9, I don’t remember his name, he’s a great player. A great player. He’s super fast."
After the Buckeyes blew past Alabama, they went on to beat Oregon in Arlington, Texas, to claim the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship.
With the 2015 season nearing, both Ohio State and Alabama are shaping up as contenders for this year's playoff. And if the stars align and pair these two teams against each other again, it's safe to bet Smart and the Crimson Tide defense will take the Buckeyes a bit more seriously.
David Regimbal covers Ohio State football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @davidreg412.
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