It’s hard to imagine a more fulfilling or enjoyable
season than the one we all just witnessed, coming from the depths of the loss
to Virginia Tech to hoisting the national championship trophy 128 days
later. Along the way was the double
overtime win at Penn State, a huge road win in East Lansing, yet another
victory over a slumping Michigan program, and three straight dominating
performances in the postseason. But, as
Woody Hayes once said “Anything easy isn’t worth a damn!” The Buckeyes won their seventh (some claim
eighth) national title at the culmination of the longest season in their
history, playing 15 games over the span of 135 days. As this is the third title in my lifetime, I
will inevitably be asked to compare this team to the 1968 and 2002 title teams. But, I feel some time must pass in order to
gain that kind of perspective, if a comparison can be made. It is a bit too bad that Electronic Arts did
not make a version of NCAA football this year (due to the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit
against the NCAA), particularly a version that included great teams of the
past. Just for fun, I would’ve liked to
have computer simulations of all the Ohio State title teams against one another
to see which one would come out on top.
The
start of this magical season was shrouded in uncertainty. With Braxton Miller out for the season, a
less than dominating performance against Navy in the opener, and the brutal
loss to the Hokies, it is understandable why some would write off Ohio State’s
season. After all, at this point, the
Buckeyes had lost three of their last four games, going back to the loss to
Michigan State in the 2013 B1G Championship Game and the loss to Clemson in the
Orange Bowl. The Buckeyes had a fresh
face at quarterback, four new faces on the offensive line, and a new defensive
scheme that had yet to reap much of anything compared to the year before. But the credit goes to Coach Urban Meyer and
his staff for staying the course and adapting a methodical approach to climbing
out of the abyss. The “get well” games
against Kent State and Cincinnati helped settle the offensive line down and
give J.T. Barrett a boost of confidence.
Maryland and Rutgers gave the defense a big boost of confidence, as they
were able make plays and limit their high-powered offenses. Penn State was a test of resilience and
toughness, which the Buckeyes passed with flying colors. J.T. Barrett, despite tweaking a knee that
limited his mobility in the second half, proved his toughness by putting the
offense on his back in the overtime.
Illinois was a breather, as it turned out, the last “easy” game on the
schedule. Michigan State was supposed to
expose the Buckeyes and was considered the best hope the conference had of
getting a team in the new CFB Playoff.
Instead, it was Ohio State running and passing their way with remarkable
ease through Michigan State’s vaunted defense and pulling away in the second
half for a dominating win in East Lansing.
It was not supposed to be easy taking on Minnesota’s improved program,
especially in Minneapolis in blowing, drifting snow and the coldest
temperatures Ohio State has seen in years, but it was Ohio State making things
harder on themselves rather than Minnesota that the game was even remotely
close. Speaking of making things harder
on themselves, the Buckeyes played their worst football during their win streak
during the first 2 ½ quarters against Indiana, allowing Tevin Coleman and the
Hoosiers to grab the lead in the third quarter.
But, like it was in every game during the win streak, someone stepped up
and did what needed to be done. The
second half turned into the Jalin Marshall show, as his four touchdowns sparked
the Buckeyes to the win that clinched a return trip to Indianapolis for the
conference championship game. The
Wolverines of Michigan came out fired up and inspired for what they knew would
be Coach Brady Hoke’s final game, and for the first part of the game, controlled
the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. But again, defensive players like Joey Bosa,
Michael Bennett, and Darron Lee stepped up to stuff the Wolverine offense. It was “next man up” when record-setting
quarterback J.T. Barrett was lost with his ankle injury, but that served as the
start of Cardale Jones’ unbelievable emergence and also Ezekiel Elliott behind
an offensive line that started dominating like the OSU offensive lines of old. Despite this, Wisconsin was picked as a
four-point favorite to win the B1G Championship Game, but the Badgers never had
a chance as the Buckeyes imposed their will on offense and defense, holding
Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon to a season-low 76 yards. I have to admit, it was a pleasure to see
Wisconsin’s normally obnoxious fans stunned into silence way before halftime.
If not for the advent of the College Football
Playoff, Ohio State would’ve played Oregon in Pasadena and not Arlington. Then,
we would’ve had to watch what turned out NOT to be the two best teams play for
the title (in which Alabama would’ve killed Florida State). Instead, Ohio State's no. 4 ranking became a
no. 4 seed in a four-team post-season tournament in which Ohio State finished
the toughest part of its schedule, and won the national championship at the
end, with its preseason third-string quarterback Cardale Jones, who guided the
Buckeyes to wins over number one Alabama (whose defense have been among the
country's best since 2007), and number two Oregon. In so doing, they shut down the other two
Heisman finalists besides Gordon (Alabama’s Amari Cooper and Oregon’s Heisman
winner Marcus Marioti). Ohio State silenced
all the doubters and haters by dominating when it counted the most, when all
the marbles were on the line.
2014
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (14-1)(9-0)
34 at
Navy (Baltimore) 17
21 Virginia
Tech 35
66 Kent
State 0
S20 idle
50 Cincinnati 28
52 at
Maryland 24
O11 idle
56 Rutgers 17
31 at
Penn State 24
(2OT)
55 Illinois 14
49 at
Michigan State 37
31 at
Minnesota 24
42 Indiana 26
42 Michigan 28
59 Wisconsin 0 (B1G Championship)
42 Alabama 35
(Sugar Bowl)
42 Oregon 20
(National Championship)
The 2015 season already looks bright and promising,
particularly with Cardale Jones just announcing his plans to return. The QB issue that Coach Urban Meyer will have
to deal with going forward is an “issue” every other school would love to have. Jones would’ve been the number one
quarterback going into spring ball regardless, since both Braxton Miller and
J.T. Barrett will still be rehabbing their injuries and thus will not
participate in spring drills. His
incredible three-game run through the post season and the national championship
would make it difficult for any coach to sit him down. Joining Jones (or whomever) in the backfield
will be all the running backs, including the bruising, dominating Ezekiel
Elliott. With everyone except Darryl
Baldwin returning on the offensive line, the Buckeye ground game will look to
be even more powerful in 2015. Besides
Baldwin, Jeff Heuerman, Devin Smith, and Evan Spencer will also graduate, but
Nick Vannett will be back at TE and Corey Smith and Michael Thomas figure to be
deep threats. The versatile Jalin
Marshall will be back as will Dontre Wilson, who will be fully recovered from
his injury.
The defense will lose some valuable performers, but
will have capable performers step up into starting roles. The defensive line loses All-American Michael
Bennett and Steve Miller, but All-American Joey Bosa returns as well as
Adolphus Washington. Raekwon McMillan
will step in full time for the departed Curtis Grant and Darron Lee and Joshua
Perry are back, so the linebackers figure to be the strength of this
defense. The secondary loses Doran
Grant, but returns everyone else. The
battle for his spot will be one of the hot ones to watch (other than the QB
position) as Armani Reeves, Damon Webb, and Gareon Conley will each make strong
bids to start.
Special teams will be yet strength, as kicker Sean
Nuernberger and punter Cameron Johnston are back and the return game in good
hands with Marshall and Curtis Samuel continuing in those roles.
The 2015 schedule steps up a little in toughness,
starting with the opener, a Labor Day kickoff in Blacksburg where the Buckeyes
will have a shot at avenging their lone 2014 loss at Virginia Tech. Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Western
Michigan provide tune-ups before the conference season starts on the road at
Indiana. The end of the season gets
interesting as the Buckeyes will play Michigan State in their final home game
before traveling to Ann Arbor to face what figures to be a better Michigan team
under their new coach Jim Harbaugh. For
the first time in quite a while, the Michigan game looks to be the toughest on
their schedule.
2015
Schedule
S7 at
Virginia Tech (Monday night)
S12 Hawaii
(Band Alumni game)
S19 Northern
Illinois
S26 Western
Michigan
O3 at
Indiana
O10 Maryland
O17 Penn
State
O24 at
Rutgers
O31 idle
N7 Minnesota
N14 at Illinois
N21 Michigan
State
N28 at
Michigan
My blog postings for the 2014 season will end with
this sentence which, quite honestly, brings tears of joy:
Rejoice, Buckeye Nation! The Ohio State Buckeyes are NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
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