National college football analyst predicts how the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Miami Hurricanes matchup will go in the Cotton Bowl

On3’s J.D. PicKell gives his prediction on Ohio State and Miami  

PicKell had some interesting comments about the matchup, including pointing to where the Buckeyes can get the win over Miami. 

“Do we add some things to the arsenal because it felt to me like last year when Ohio State lost to Michigan and kind of went back to the drawing board and said, ‘we have Jeremiah Smith, he should be more of an emphasis in this offense’. That’s when the entire thing caught fire,” PicKell stated. 

“At the end of the day, if this thing gets ugly, Ohio State covers that number if Jeremiah Smith just gets his. Because everything downstream from that to me would scream advantage Buckeyes.”

“For me, there’s too much that has to happen for Miami to win this game that I have to see from Ohio State for me to feel good about the Canes to get it done. Ohio State it would mean they would have to kind of get exposed on the line of scrimmage. It would mean that Julian Sayin kind of had a gutter ball kind of game, which we haven’t seen from him,” PicKell finished. 

PicKell went with a 24-17 win for the Buckeyes and he thinks that Miami will cover the two-store spread that is there. Ohio State getting back to spreading the ball around to its playmakers through the air is its best way toward repeating, similarly to how they played last season. If the Buckeyes can just be solid in the trenches and get the ball to their playmakers, they’re going to be in good standing against Miami. Ohio State has plenty of experience playing in Arlington, Texas, too. 

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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.