My thoughts: National Championship Game

                            Dominating.  Incredible.  Those are but just a couple of superlatives attempting to describe what turned out to be a beat down for the Ohio State Buckeyes, as they trounced the Oregon Ducks 42-20 to win the national title.  Oregon should be thankful it wasn’t worse, since the Buckeyes committed four turnovers (three lost fumbles and an interceptions) to Oregon’s no turnovers, and the Buckeyes still won going away.  In my preview, I remarked that if Alabama was gashed by Ezekiel Elliott, then it didn’t bode well for Oregon’s defense, and indeed we saw Elliott better his total against the Tide by running for 246 yards and four touchdowns.  I noticed consistently throughout the game the number of tackles he broke and YAC (yards after contact) Elliott had.  Running with a style akin to Keith Byars and Beanie Wells, Elliott was the hammer that wore down the Oregon front seven until, in the fourth quarter, there was Oregon’s defensive front, exhausted with hands on their knees.  After the first, rather disjointed, offensive series, the Ohio State offensive line adjusted to the Ducks defense, and didn’t have much trouble opening up holes for Elliott and protecting Cardale Jones.  Oregon got very little pressure on Jones on third down, which either gave him all day to drop back and throw downfield, or allowed him to scramble for positive yardage.  Early on, the Ducks attempted to spy on Jones with a linebacker, but as Elliott began to get his yards, the Ducks were forced out of that.  

 

 Despite dominating from the middle of the first quarter, the turnovers kept Oregon in the game, but this is where the old saying “defense wins championships” really applies.  Against the most prolific offense in the college game and the best QB in the game, the Ohio State defense gave up only 10 points off the four turnovers.  The turning point came in the third quarter after a fumble by Jones when the Buckeyes led only 21-17 and Oregon had a golden opportunity to take the lead and had a first-and-goal.  Instead, the Ohio State defense limited the Ducks to a field goal and still maintained a 21-20 lead.  The big play was made on third down when Eli Apple made a great play on Oregon TE Evan Bayless, keeping him from getting his feet inbounds after Bayless made a leaping catch.  Throughout the game, The Buckeyes were able to limit Oregon's offense on first down and then clamped down on the Ducks on third down. Oregon was just 2 for 12 in the game on third down. Ohio State's defense took the Ducks completely out of their rhythm.  The suffocating performance on critical 3rd downs helped the defense hold the Ducks to 27 points and 88 yards below their season averages.

The only two conversions surrendered occurred on Oregon's next-to-last possession of the half but the Ducks could only muster a field goal after the Buckeyes held on 3rd and 4 from their own nine yard line to cut Ohio State's lead to 21-10 with less than a minute before intermission.

The win gives Ohio State its first national title since 2002 and the eighth in school history.