Kirk Herbstreit dispels narrative Ohio State paid for roster when discussing chip on Buckeyes' shoulder in CFP

Ohio State came into the playoff with things to prove, accomplish, and set right before many of them leave Columbus.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit joined ‘Andy & Ari On3’ on Tuesday and, during that interview, discussed the Buckeyes’ mindset, specifically since entering the postseason. That started with how their team views the opinion that they were all bought with NIL.

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“This narrative, that Ohio State bought their roster, I don’t think sits well with the team because, every time I’m around them, there’s a little bit of an angst with that,” said Herbstreit.

“I went back and I did a bunch of research and I said, they aren’t – I mean, other than Caleb Downs defensively? I mean, you look at these guys – JTT, Tyleik Williams, Ty Hamilton, Jack Sawyer, Jordan Hancock, Cody Simon, Sonny Styles, Lathan Ransom, Denzel Burke. All those guys? They’ve not only been on the roster for four or five years. They almost all have started for the last three years,” Herbstreit said. “There’s been a lot of really good moments for that class of players. There’ve been a lot of tough moments.”

Some of those tough moments including the four-game losing streak in The Game. That was again the result in their final regular-season game of this fall and, with that paired with the financial aspect among others, all the pressure in the sport then came on Ohio State.

Because of that, though, the Buckeyes have been able to come together in dealing with all of that as a team. That has been the difference that many, including Herbstreit, have seen in them over their two dominant performances so far in the CFP.

“You know how that is when you go through experiences. It really brings you together,” Herbstreit said. “So I think you have a very tight football team that felt a lot of anger, humiliation, frustration and they’re looking at this post–Michigan, four-game run as a chance to kind of correct, in their minds, something that should never have gone wrong.”

“Having that second life, I think, has really gotten them to play with tremendous confidence, tremendous energy,” said Herbstreit. “In their minds, even when they won the Rose Bowl and the confetti came down, it was kind of, like, pat on the back, let’s get back to Columbus.”

The new and unified focus has been more than evident for Ohio State. Over their two games since, they’ve won by an average margin of 22.5 points over No. 9 Tennessee and No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl with them now being the favorite to win the College Football Playoff.

Again, though, that comes from a team of players that, after everything they’ve gone through, want to make amends and achieve one last thing as Buckeyes.

“Like, they are just – you’ve been around team sports you guy’s whole lives. They’re just a team that appears to be on a mission to Atlanta,” said Herbstreit. “Will they get there? We’ll see. But it’s everybody pulling together for one goal and that’s to win it all.

“I think they just kind of pulled their bootstraps up and said, ‘We’re a good team. Let’s go win a national championship.'”