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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — After beating Ohio State for the third time in three seasons earlier this year, Michigan defensive lineman Kris Jenkins couldn’t believe what he was seeing Friday night as the Buckeyes scored only three points against Missouri in what was a shocking 14-3 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic loss.
“I’m a hater, but that ain’t the team we played against on 25th of November,” Jenkins said. “It wasn’t sad. But dang, man. You feel me? Does that make sense? Your rival, y’all hate each other, but you want them to play good. But that was tough to watch.”
The Buckeyes were notably missing several players, including Heisman finalist Marvin Harrison Jr.; linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, who led the team with 80 tackles before the bowl; and safety Lathan Ransom. They were also down to their third-string quarterback, freshman Lincoln Kienholz, after Kyle McCord transferred to Syracuse earlier this month and Devin Brown left the game in the middle of the second quarter with a high left ankle sprain. Their offense finished with only 203 total yards.
“We rivals and all that, but that man’s a beast,” Jenkins said of Harrison. “That man can play ball. So, I mean, if he ain’t in…”
When asked about Harrison opting out of the bowl game and whether teams should be critiqued on bowl game performances given the number of players opting out, Jenkins said teams should not be judged on it.
“If they want to opt out, they should definitely be able to opt out,” Jenkins said. “But yeah, honestly, you shouldn’t [judge teams] for real because that definitely wasn’t the team you’ve seen. You turn on the tape, like, all the regular season, and you didn’t see that team.”
As the playoff prepares to expand to 12 teams next season, Jenkins said he doesn’t foresee a situation where players with high NFL draft projections opt out of games that matter in the playoff bracket.
While a title team’s potential schedule will expand to 16 games, likely extending the college football season, Jenkins alluded to the fact that any team with at least an outside chance at winning it all will retain players who are thinking about leaving, for the NFL or for the transfer portal.
“If there 12 teams in, I don’t think so,” Jenkins said. “[16 potential games] is a lot of football, but … I feel like if teams have the opportunity to go all the way in college, they’re gonna be full.”
