ATLANTA — Cade Stover has turned the page from Michigan. He has Georgia on his mind.
The Lexington High School graduate and Ohio State football captain expects his teammates have done the same.
“All our focus is on Georgia right now,” Stover said during an interview on Monday, five days before the Buckeyes take on the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“I mean, that one (loss to Michigan) stings, yes, but right now we’re focusing on winning this game right now, and we’re not worried about that,” the 6-4, 255-pound redshirt junior told the media.
No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) is a 6.5-point underdog going into the game Saturday night at 8 p.m. against No. 1 Georgia (13-0), the defending national champions.
The Buckeyes rolled through the regular season before No. 2-Michigan (13-0) came to Columbus and beat OSU, 45-23, for the second straight season.
Stover, selected Mr. Football as Ohio’s best player during his senior year at Lexington, caught four passes against the Wolverines, but netted just 13 yards.
For the season, his first as OSU’s starting tight end, Stover has 35 catches for 399 yards, averaging 11.4 yards per reception and scoring five TDs.
During the meeting with media on Monday, Stover was asked if injuries played a part in his performance against Michigan.
“Everybody is banged up at the end of the season. Whether how much it affected me or not, I’ll never admit it, because that’s just the way it is,” Stover said.
“You can’t be like that. You’re playing football. You signed up to get beat up, so you’d better play beat up.”
Still, the long break between games was welcomed by Stover and his teammates.
“Last couple weeks have been nice, though, to kind of get your feet back underneath you here, and hopefully we’ll come into this game healthy,” Stover said.
Georgia graduated several NFL first-round draft picks from last year’s top-ranked defense. But the Bulldogs have reloaded in winning another SEC title with a 50-30 win against LSU.
Stover said he’s impressed with the Georgia defense, but remains confident in the OSU offense, which sputtered in putting up 23 points against Michigan, including just three in the second half.
“That’s a tough, big front seven. Athletic and long. We’re excited for the challenge,” he said.
“We expect to go in there and be successful every drive. If we don’t, we’re going to come back and solve the problems,” he said.
Lexington High School graduate Cade Stover is the starting tight end and a captain for the OSU football team in 2022.
In 12 games this season, Stover has 35 receptions for 399 yards, averaging 11.4 yards per catch and scoring five touchdowns.
OSU was limited to 134 yards rushing by Michigan, part of which can be attributed to injuries to Buckeye running backs.
Sophomore TreVeyon Henderson, who missed the Michigan game due to injury, has been announced as unavailable for the Peach Bowl. Junior Miyan Williams, limited to just eight carries against the Wolverines, is expected to play Saturday night.
“We got the plays down. We got the people here to do it. It’s just the fact of putting it all together and playing all 11 together to be successful running the ball,” Stover said.
Stover was also asked if OSU tight ends are being overlooked in a game against a Georgia team that features sophomore TE Brock Bowers, who had 52 catches for 726 yards and six TDs.
“I am not getting caught up on what’s being said, what’s not being said,” he said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. We’re just trying to win this game.”
(Up next: Richland Source managing editor Larry Phillips takes a look at the most enjoyable and painful OSU bowl games in the program’s storied history. Look for his columns Thursday and Friday.)
