My Thoughts.....Minnesota

                     
                         Looking to avoid an emotional letdown after exacting revenge on Michigan State last weekend in East Lansing, the Buckeyes were sloppy at times but still had more than enough juice to beat Minnesota, 31-24, on a frozen afternoon in Minneapolis.  The score was not indicative of the talent disparity as Ohio State posted a 31-14 lead early in the 4th quarter but turnovers and mistakes allowed the Gophers to make it closer than it should have been.  For the record, the 15 degrees at the start of the game marked the coldest temperatures Ohio State has played in since November 21, 1964 against Michigan.
What else can you say about J.T. Barrett at this point? He went from third on the depth chart to starter within a 10-day span leading up to the season opener and all he's done is look like a Heisman finalist as he rewrites the OSU record book.  Coming into yesterday's game, Barrett needed three touchdowns to break Braxton Miller's single-season Touchdowns Accounted For record. He broke that midway through the 3rd quarter of his 10th game and added another touchdown early in the 4th quarter to give him 38 on the year, two better than Miller's mark set last season.  Yesterday was the sixth time in 10 games that he's accounted for at least four scores and gave him eight games of recording multiple touchdown passes.  Barrett has been sensational in the run game thanks to a great understanding of how to execute the read/option plays and deceptive speed and elusiveness.  Against Minnesota, Barrett set two OSU quarterback rushing records. He broke an 86-yard touchdown run, the longest ever by a Buckeye signal-caller and his 189 yards rushing on the day bettered Miller's mark of 186 versus Nebraska in 2012.  He also is much more mature as a young man than lightning rods such as Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel.  Don’t look for Barrett to do anything to embarrass his school or very possibly cost them championships, a la Winston.  Alas, Jalin Marshall showed his “human” side in this game.  Marshall muffed a punt and fumbled near the goal line not only costing Ohio State a touchdown but the mistakes were compounded as the Buckeye defense could not keep Minnesota out of the end zone on both ensuing possessions. As Coach Urban Meyer said after the game, those mistakes have to get cleaned up because not only is Marshall a very talented player that can help this team win, he's the only legitimate option at both the H and punt return spots until Dontre Wilson returns from his foot injury.  Only Jeff Greene has returned a punt outside of Marshall and Wilson this season and that's probably not going to change at this point. Plus, Marshall is averaging 11.5 yards per return and he still garnered five catches for 95 yards, including a 57-yarder for a score.

Ohio State’s defense was solid, at times, limiting a decent Gopher offense to just 303 total yards, but the Buckeyes had their issues stopping the run. Minnesota running back David Cobb, who is one of the top running backs in the Big Ten, tallied 147 of those yards on the ground on 27 carries and had all three Minnesota touchdowns.   Suddenly, this may look like an issue for this defense.  Last week, Jeremy Langford ran for 137 of Michigan State's 178 rushing yards with three touchdowns and with a possible matchup looming in Indianapolis against Wisconsin and Melvin Gordon, it could cost Ohio State if not cleaned up. It must be pointed out that all three Minnesota touchdowns were gimmies that resulted from Ohio State turnovers and Cobb got only 52 yards after halftime.  The Ohio State defense also picked Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner twice in the second half.  Actually, it should’ve been three, but the officials shafted Doran Grant out of a pick-six in the third quarter with a bogus pass interference call.  The special teams also lacked consistency.  Curtis Samuel stepped in for Wilson and did have a nice 38-yard kickoff return and Sean Nuernberger hit a chip shot field goal, but Marshall's muffed punt was tough to watch and the coverage teams weren't very sharp.  Ohio State has dominated the average starting field position this season but Saturday in the 1st half, the offense was consistently backed up while Minnesota enjoyed some breathing room.  Cameron Johnston had a difficult day as he averaged just 36 yards on four punts, one inside the 20 with another going for a touchback.

A win is a win and the weather conditions clearly affected the game and acted as an “equalizer”.  Coach Urban Meyer made a good point in his post game comments.  Let’s see TCU or anyone else come up this far north at this time of year and play under those same conditions.  They wouldn’t do any better.  The Buckeyes need only to defeat Indiana at home to clinch their third consecutive division title and second consecutive trip to Indianapolis for the December 6 B1G Championship game.