ATLANTA — Ohio State’s offense is keenly aware of Jalen Carter …. No. 88, consensus All-American, projected top NFL Draft pick.
But these Buckeyes have plenty of football royalty of their own, former 5-star prospects and projected first-round NFL Draft picks, too.
There has been acknowledgments of the Georgia football defensive star, but Ohio State has stopped short of the sort of gushing that became commonplace from SEC opponents.
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Maybe it’s the Buckeyes’ version of having a pre-game media game faces on with the kickoff of the CFP Peach Bowl Semifinal at 8 p.m. on Saturday in Mercedes-Benz fast approaching.
Or maybe they don’t know what they don’t know — or maybe neutralizing Carter comes down to the approach Ohio State All-American offensive lineman Paris Johnson shared on Tuesday.
“A lot of guys get shook up really early in the game, and now they are playing out of body to try to beat him because of his strength and his speed,” Johnson explained.
“So I think it’s being able to stay within yourself and being able to play within your training, I think will give us the best chance.”
Johnson said it’s not hard to see why Carter gets so much credit, but there’s more to Georgia’s front than him.
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“We respect who they have up front, and it’s not just Carter, there’s (Nazir) Stackhouse and those other guys,” Carter said. “I think they have a strong defense, I feel like Jalen Carter, it only takes a couple of plays to see how explosive he is.”
Johnson couldn’t stifle a chuckle when asked if he saw the play where Carter picked up LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with one arm in the SEC Championship Game while thrusting his other arm and hand in the air while giving the “No. 1″ sign.
“I thought that was impressive, but I feel like first thing that comes to mind is, ‘you can’t let your quarterback be in that position,” Johnson said.
No, the Buckeyes’ offensive tackle indicated that any self-respecting offensive line should show more fight.
“It’s just to fight, because I feel like there are some people who look at somebody and then they start to play out of themselves,” Johnson said. “Because they think they have to do X, Y and Z over the top to beat somebody, rather than just playing within their technique.”
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud accepts that part of his challenge will be to take Carter and his abilities into account.
“I watch the film, so I see him, he’s a great player, he’s dynamic up front,” Stroud said. “Jalen definitely is a problem, and he’ll be a great player in his career.
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“It’s going to be a really hard battle for the guys up front, including me, moving around in the pocket trying to extend plays for that one second if I need it.”
Stroud was sacked only 8 times this season, with Penn State the only team to sack him more than once — and that was only 2 times.
