Ohio State Is Fast Enough to Keep Pace with Alabama, SEC Speed

In the 2007 and 2008 BCS National Championship Games, Ohio State was run off the field by faster and more agile SEC teams. The Buckeyes were outscored by an average of 20.5 points in their losses to Florida and LSU—falling to teams that had more speed on the perimeter and in the trenches.

That won’t be the case when Urban Meyer takes his fourth-ranked Buckeyes to New Orleans for a matchup against No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

The question was posed to members of the Ohio State football team last weekend: Can the Buckeyes match the incredible pace of their southern challengers on New Year’s Day?

Their answers revealed an unmistakable irritation and, unsurprisingly, a desire to put that question to bed.

“What exactly is SEC speed?” Ezekiel Elliott said, according to Todd Porter of The Canton Repository. “I think we have great speed on our team.”

The Buckeyes certainly have some blazers. Elliott himself was running a 4.4-second 40-yard dash as a high school senior two years ago. So were wideouts such as Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson—the two players tasked with playing the “Percy Harvin position” in this year’s offense.

And then there’s senior Devin Smith, who has clocked 4.3-second 40-yard dashes routinely throughout his collegiate career. He’s the Buckeyes’ big-play threat, and he’s coming off of one of the best performances of his career.

Against Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game, Smith got…

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