This top ten list is late - absurdly so. As the 2015-16 season draws near, this may be the last list of its kind to get published. Like you though, I'm an Ohio State superfan and I know that we don't stop talking about this stuff just because it's old and everybody else has moved on. So here it is, a long overdue look at the top plays from last season:
10.) Joey Bosa & Darron Lee - forced fumble and return for TD vs. Navy
It was the season's first touchdown for the Buckeyes, and it came at a key moment. While they would get upset by Virginia Tech the next week, that wasn't nearly as big of a black eye as losing to Navy would have been. While we can scarcely imagine that possibility now, it was a very real one coming out of halftime of this game with the Buckeyes trailing 7-6. Joey Bosa, a leading player on the Buckeye defense, caused the miscue by penetrating into the backfield to force an early option pitch. Lee announced his arrival as a key player by completing the scoop and score. While the Buckeyes would relinquish the lead for a time before putting Navy away, this huge play gave them the momentum boost they needed to eventually get the win.
9.) Michael Thomas - 79-yard touchdown reception vs. M*ch*g*n State
The Buckeyes, having improved vastly over the course of the season but not having been tested by a top team yet, went to East Lansing to face the team the beat them in the previous season's B1G title game. Both teams traded haymakers thoughout the first half, but it seemed the momentum was mostly with the men in green. At one point late in the second quarter, Jeremy Langford appeared to have scored a touchdown to put MSU up two scores. The play was called back for holding, and MSU would subsequently miss a field goal attempt. On the very next play, Thomas would catch J.T. Barrett's pass on a slant, break a tackle, and outrun everybody else to the end zone. In the span of moments, the Buckeyes went from being down two scores to being tied. The season before in Indianapolis the Buckeyes struggled to make big plays against a defense that played man-to-man and dared other teams to try to beat their DBs. Thomas broke through and did just that, and it gave the Buckeyes momentum that they would not relinquish en route to a 49-37 upset victory.
8.) Curtis Grant and Tyvis Powell - goal line stand vs. Oregon
Early in the second quarter the Buckeyes had the lead and the ball, but after a botched handoff attempt Oregon regained possession and was threatening to tie the game. Oregon was a team that took risks and went for it on a lot of fourth downs. They counted on their tempo and their ability to exploit mismatches to tip the scales in their favor in those situations. Meanwhile the Buckeyes had a defense that had been historically bad the season before and had struggled to stop the run through much of 2014 as they grew into their new scheme under Chris Ash. Oregon seemed to have a pretty good chance to convert in this situation (4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line). The play went up the middle, and with the field spread the running lane had to look pretty wide - except that it was filled quickly by Grant and Powell. They met the ball carrier at the two-yard line and stopped him cold, while the rest of the team converged to finish the tackle. While Oregon would get more chances and eventually climb to within a point of Ohio State, the goal line stand demonstrated that this would be a different test than any Oregon had faced all year. It also showed that the Buckeyes' defensive transformation was complete - they had gone from being a unit that occasionally cost the team wins to one that could be a major contributor toward earning them.
7.) Joey Bosa - game-ending sack in 2OT vs. Penn State
It's an amazing individual play: a bull rush so fierce that the quarterback goes down without even being touched by the pass rusher. That alone makes it worthy of being in the top ten. Add to that the fact that it happened on the last play of the game in double OT against Penn State, and it's a no-brainer. I could watch this play a hundred times in a row - in fact, I bet most of us already have at one time or another.
6.) Cardale Jones and Devin Smith - 39-yard touchdown pass and catch vs. Wisconsin
Buckeye fans were hopeful, but hardly anybody imagined this. They had gone from pulling themselves back into the playoff discussion to being counted out again. They were underdogs against Wisconsin after J.T. Barrett was lost to a broken ankle, and some had the Buckeyes pegged for heartbreak in Indianapolis for a second straight year. Enter Cardale Jones. Everybody knows him now as the confident, loose quarterback with a big personality and a rocket arm. Before this play though, he was the third-stringer who many figured would lead the Buckeyes' season into a dead end. One long pass play changed all of that. The Buckeyes began to soar again, Wisconsin was crushed, and the college football world was made to take notice. Don't overlook Devin Smith's role in this play. While the result was huge for Jones' confidence, it was a 50-50 ball and Smith did a tremendous job of being physical, shielding the defender, and putting himself in a position to make the grab.
5.) J.T. Barrett - touchdown run in 2OT vs. Penn State
The Buckeyes took a comfortable, if not commanding, 17-0 lead into the locker room at half time against Penn State. It would be a much different game from that point on, however, and by the time the Buckeyes got the ball in the first overtime they had surrendered 24 unanswered points and needed to score a touchdown just to keep the game (and their season) alive. They got that touchdown, and then got the ball to start the second OT looking to score once again and give themselves a chance to get the hard-fought victory. With a sprained knee, facing 3rd-and-2 on the road against one of the nation's top rush defenses, Barrett took the ball up the middle and dragged would-be tacklers into the end zone as if by sheer force of will. After a rough second half, Barrett's overtime performance was perhaps the most underrated one of the year for the Buckeyes. Everybody remembers Joey Bosa's walkoff sack, but it may have never happened if Barrett doesn't convert this 3rd-and-2 for what proved to be the game-winning score.
4.) Vonn Bell INT vs. Alabama
After facing an early deficit, the Buckeyes had taken control against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in the third quarter. A team as dangerous, talented, and well-coached as Alabama is not simply going to go away, and the Buckeyes would have to face several challenges to maintain momentum and the lead in the second half. The brilliant punting of the Crimson Tide's J.K. Scott had the Buckeyes on their heels, pinning them to their own goal line. Leading 34-28, the Buckeyes went three-and-out, and Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston was forced to kick from his own end zone. The normally dependable Aussie sent away a short, high punt that he had to get away quickly in the face of an oncoming rush. It landed at about the 35-yard line, and took a giant bounce backwards into the arms of Jeff Heuerman, who limited the damage by downing it at the 23-yard line. It set up a golden opportunity for Alabama to seize momentum and the lead with just under ten minutes left in the game. The Tide sensed this and went for the end zone on the very next play. That's where Vonn Bell stepped in.
The most amazing part of this play? It was a busted coverage. Bell was playing around the near hash, diagnosed the play, and got all the way over to the far pylon to make the play that preserved the Buckeyes' lead. Amazing. A little bonus footage here:
3.) Ezekiel Elliott - 44-yard touchdown run vs. M*ch*g*n
Things weren't going as planned against the Buckeyes' arch rival. The heavy favorites were in a dog fight against a bad team. The Buckeyes lost the services of Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett, and were trying to get by with third-stringer Cardale Jones at QB. They were up by a touchdown with just over five minutes left in the game, but they hadn't stopped M*ch*g*n's rushing attack all afternoon. Not wanting to give the ball back to the Wolverines, Urban Meyer decided to go for it on 4th-and-1, and turned to Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott had been having a decent season up to this point, but hadn't been asked to be "THE MAN" until the Buckeyes seemingly had nowhere else to turn. He responded in style, ripping the hearts out of the Wolverines and providing a sneak peek into the dominant postseason that he'd have in the following weeks.
2.) Ezekiel Elliott 85-yard touchdown run vs. Alabama
The Buckeyes were struggling on offense in the fourth quarter against Alabama, and hoping to nurse a six-point lead to the final whistle by running the ball and running out the clock. Ohio State had just moved the chains for the first time since the middle of the third quarter on the strength of a tough one-yard run by Cardale Jones. Hoping to keep the clock winding down, the Buckeyes went to #15 on first down. While not much time expired, he did something much more spectacular, patiently setting up his blockers, then bursting through a crease and outrunning everybody to the end zone. It put the Buckeyes up by 14 points after the subsequent two-point conversion, but it would turn out to be the game-winning score after Alabama's furious comeback attempt.
Besides being a big play in determining the outcome of the game, it was also a big play for what it signified. It was the death knell for so many tired, expired, or incorrect narratives - "SEC vs. B1G," "SEC vs. Ohio State," "Saban owns Meyer," "southern speed beats northern plodding." The sports world had become accustomed to seeing Alabama as a ruthless machine that could break other teams' backs in the fourth quarter. In the span of 85 yards, Ezekiel Elliott turned the tables on them and sent the Buckeyes to the national championship game.
1.) Evan Spencer and Michael Thomas - 13-yard touchdown pass and catch vs. Alabama
This play had everything - high stakes, some razzle-dazzle, and brilliant execution. For a while, the Sugar Bowl had looked like it might be another blowout at the hands of an SEC opponent. Throughout the first half, the Buckeyes had moved the ball well (348 yards, 16 first downs), but had settled for less than a touchdown all but once. In the waning moments before halftime, Ohio State was down eight points but had the ball in the red zone. Settling for another field goal would have closed the gap, but it would have seemed like a "win" for the Alabama defense. While the earlier touchdown showed that the Buckeyes could at least hang around and keep it respectable, this was the play that put the Buckeyes in position to overtake Alabama. It sent the Buckeyes into the locker room flying high, while Alabama had to feel like they were already losing despite still holding a one-point lead.
The play was important for its daring. The Buckeyes needed seven points from this drive, and a high-risk play like a wide receiver reverse pass could have killed those chances. In that sense, the play was important symbolically, since it discarded the narrative that the Buckeyes' struggles on the big stage were due in part to their own buttoned-down conservatism.
It was a perfectly executed play. It had to be. Alabama defenders were ready for the trickeration. Cyrus Jones, who had the coverage on Thomas, was in a great position to make a play. If Spencer's throw is a few inches lower it probably gets returned 100 yards the other way for a score. That kind of throw is a lot to ask for from a quarterback, let alone from a wide receiver making his first career passing attempt. Spencer put the ball in the only spot where it would work, a spot only Thomas could get to. Even for Thomas's part, the margin for error was thin - literally as thin as a few blades of green field turf. Everything else that needed to go right on this play already had, but after making the grab, Thomas had to get a single foot down in-bounds. He managed it in the most acrobatic fashion imaginable - the last perfect piece of a play where the Buckeyes could not settle for getting it only 99.9% right.
So there they are... the top ten plays from Ohio State's national championship season. It's not the timeliest look at what happened, but you read it anyway because you're a superfan like me. Since you can't get enough of this, you probably have your own opinions about this topic. If they are different they are probably wrong, but let us hear them anyway by posting your response below.
GO BUCKS!!!!!
10.) Joey Bosa & Darron Lee - forced fumble and return for TD vs. Navy
It was the season's first touchdown for the Buckeyes, and it came at a key moment. While they would get upset by Virginia Tech the next week, that wasn't nearly as big of a black eye as losing to Navy would have been. While we can scarcely imagine that possibility now, it was a very real one coming out of halftime of this game with the Buckeyes trailing 7-6. Joey Bosa, a leading player on the Buckeye defense, caused the miscue by penetrating into the backfield to force an early option pitch. Lee announced his arrival as a key player by completing the scoop and score. While the Buckeyes would relinquish the lead for a time before putting Navy away, this huge play gave them the momentum boost they needed to eventually get the win.
9.) Michael Thomas - 79-yard touchdown reception vs. M*ch*g*n State
The Buckeyes, having improved vastly over the course of the season but not having been tested by a top team yet, went to East Lansing to face the team the beat them in the previous season's B1G title game. Both teams traded haymakers thoughout the first half, but it seemed the momentum was mostly with the men in green. At one point late in the second quarter, Jeremy Langford appeared to have scored a touchdown to put MSU up two scores. The play was called back for holding, and MSU would subsequently miss a field goal attempt. On the very next play, Thomas would catch J.T. Barrett's pass on a slant, break a tackle, and outrun everybody else to the end zone. In the span of moments, the Buckeyes went from being down two scores to being tied. The season before in Indianapolis the Buckeyes struggled to make big plays against a defense that played man-to-man and dared other teams to try to beat their DBs. Thomas broke through and did just that, and it gave the Buckeyes momentum that they would not relinquish en route to a 49-37 upset victory.
8.) Curtis Grant and Tyvis Powell - goal line stand vs. Oregon
Early in the second quarter the Buckeyes had the lead and the ball, but after a botched handoff attempt Oregon regained possession and was threatening to tie the game. Oregon was a team that took risks and went for it on a lot of fourth downs. They counted on their tempo and their ability to exploit mismatches to tip the scales in their favor in those situations. Meanwhile the Buckeyes had a defense that had been historically bad the season before and had struggled to stop the run through much of 2014 as they grew into their new scheme under Chris Ash. Oregon seemed to have a pretty good chance to convert in this situation (4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line). The play went up the middle, and with the field spread the running lane had to look pretty wide - except that it was filled quickly by Grant and Powell. They met the ball carrier at the two-yard line and stopped him cold, while the rest of the team converged to finish the tackle. While Oregon would get more chances and eventually climb to within a point of Ohio State, the goal line stand demonstrated that this would be a different test than any Oregon had faced all year. It also showed that the Buckeyes' defensive transformation was complete - they had gone from being a unit that occasionally cost the team wins to one that could be a major contributor toward earning them.
7.) Joey Bosa - game-ending sack in 2OT vs. Penn State
It's an amazing individual play: a bull rush so fierce that the quarterback goes down without even being touched by the pass rusher. That alone makes it worthy of being in the top ten. Add to that the fact that it happened on the last play of the game in double OT against Penn State, and it's a no-brainer. I could watch this play a hundred times in a row - in fact, I bet most of us already have at one time or another.
6.) Cardale Jones and Devin Smith - 39-yard touchdown pass and catch vs. Wisconsin
Buckeye fans were hopeful, but hardly anybody imagined this. They had gone from pulling themselves back into the playoff discussion to being counted out again. They were underdogs against Wisconsin after J.T. Barrett was lost to a broken ankle, and some had the Buckeyes pegged for heartbreak in Indianapolis for a second straight year. Enter Cardale Jones. Everybody knows him now as the confident, loose quarterback with a big personality and a rocket arm. Before this play though, he was the third-stringer who many figured would lead the Buckeyes' season into a dead end. One long pass play changed all of that. The Buckeyes began to soar again, Wisconsin was crushed, and the college football world was made to take notice. Don't overlook Devin Smith's role in this play. While the result was huge for Jones' confidence, it was a 50-50 ball and Smith did a tremendous job of being physical, shielding the defender, and putting himself in a position to make the grab.
5.) J.T. Barrett - touchdown run in 2OT vs. Penn State
The Buckeyes took a comfortable, if not commanding, 17-0 lead into the locker room at half time against Penn State. It would be a much different game from that point on, however, and by the time the Buckeyes got the ball in the first overtime they had surrendered 24 unanswered points and needed to score a touchdown just to keep the game (and their season) alive. They got that touchdown, and then got the ball to start the second OT looking to score once again and give themselves a chance to get the hard-fought victory. With a sprained knee, facing 3rd-and-2 on the road against one of the nation's top rush defenses, Barrett took the ball up the middle and dragged would-be tacklers into the end zone as if by sheer force of will. After a rough second half, Barrett's overtime performance was perhaps the most underrated one of the year for the Buckeyes. Everybody remembers Joey Bosa's walkoff sack, but it may have never happened if Barrett doesn't convert this 3rd-and-2 for what proved to be the game-winning score.
4.) Vonn Bell INT vs. Alabama
After facing an early deficit, the Buckeyes had taken control against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in the third quarter. A team as dangerous, talented, and well-coached as Alabama is not simply going to go away, and the Buckeyes would have to face several challenges to maintain momentum and the lead in the second half. The brilliant punting of the Crimson Tide's J.K. Scott had the Buckeyes on their heels, pinning them to their own goal line. Leading 34-28, the Buckeyes went three-and-out, and Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston was forced to kick from his own end zone. The normally dependable Aussie sent away a short, high punt that he had to get away quickly in the face of an oncoming rush. It landed at about the 35-yard line, and took a giant bounce backwards into the arms of Jeff Heuerman, who limited the damage by downing it at the 23-yard line. It set up a golden opportunity for Alabama to seize momentum and the lead with just under ten minutes left in the game. The Tide sensed this and went for the end zone on the very next play. That's where Vonn Bell stepped in.
The most amazing part of this play? It was a busted coverage. Bell was playing around the near hash, diagnosed the play, and got all the way over to the far pylon to make the play that preserved the Buckeyes' lead. Amazing. A little bonus footage here:
3.) Ezekiel Elliott - 44-yard touchdown run vs. M*ch*g*n
Things weren't going as planned against the Buckeyes' arch rival. The heavy favorites were in a dog fight against a bad team. The Buckeyes lost the services of Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett, and were trying to get by with third-stringer Cardale Jones at QB. They were up by a touchdown with just over five minutes left in the game, but they hadn't stopped M*ch*g*n's rushing attack all afternoon. Not wanting to give the ball back to the Wolverines, Urban Meyer decided to go for it on 4th-and-1, and turned to Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott had been having a decent season up to this point, but hadn't been asked to be "THE MAN" until the Buckeyes seemingly had nowhere else to turn. He responded in style, ripping the hearts out of the Wolverines and providing a sneak peek into the dominant postseason that he'd have in the following weeks.
2.) Ezekiel Elliott 85-yard touchdown run vs. Alabama
The Buckeyes were struggling on offense in the fourth quarter against Alabama, and hoping to nurse a six-point lead to the final whistle by running the ball and running out the clock. Ohio State had just moved the chains for the first time since the middle of the third quarter on the strength of a tough one-yard run by Cardale Jones. Hoping to keep the clock winding down, the Buckeyes went to #15 on first down. While not much time expired, he did something much more spectacular, patiently setting up his blockers, then bursting through a crease and outrunning everybody to the end zone. It put the Buckeyes up by 14 points after the subsequent two-point conversion, but it would turn out to be the game-winning score after Alabama's furious comeback attempt.
Besides being a big play in determining the outcome of the game, it was also a big play for what it signified. It was the death knell for so many tired, expired, or incorrect narratives - "SEC vs. B1G," "SEC vs. Ohio State," "Saban owns Meyer," "southern speed beats northern plodding." The sports world had become accustomed to seeing Alabama as a ruthless machine that could break other teams' backs in the fourth quarter. In the span of 85 yards, Ezekiel Elliott turned the tables on them and sent the Buckeyes to the national championship game.
1.) Evan Spencer and Michael Thomas - 13-yard touchdown pass and catch vs. Alabama
This play had everything - high stakes, some razzle-dazzle, and brilliant execution. For a while, the Sugar Bowl had looked like it might be another blowout at the hands of an SEC opponent. Throughout the first half, the Buckeyes had moved the ball well (348 yards, 16 first downs), but had settled for less than a touchdown all but once. In the waning moments before halftime, Ohio State was down eight points but had the ball in the red zone. Settling for another field goal would have closed the gap, but it would have seemed like a "win" for the Alabama defense. While the earlier touchdown showed that the Buckeyes could at least hang around and keep it respectable, this was the play that put the Buckeyes in position to overtake Alabama. It sent the Buckeyes into the locker room flying high, while Alabama had to feel like they were already losing despite still holding a one-point lead.
The play was important for its daring. The Buckeyes needed seven points from this drive, and a high-risk play like a wide receiver reverse pass could have killed those chances. In that sense, the play was important symbolically, since it discarded the narrative that the Buckeyes' struggles on the big stage were due in part to their own buttoned-down conservatism.
It was a perfectly executed play. It had to be. Alabama defenders were ready for the trickeration. Cyrus Jones, who had the coverage on Thomas, was in a great position to make a play. If Spencer's throw is a few inches lower it probably gets returned 100 yards the other way for a score. That kind of throw is a lot to ask for from a quarterback, let alone from a wide receiver making his first career passing attempt. Spencer put the ball in the only spot where it would work, a spot only Thomas could get to. Even for Thomas's part, the margin for error was thin - literally as thin as a few blades of green field turf. Everything else that needed to go right on this play already had, but after making the grab, Thomas had to get a single foot down in-bounds. He managed it in the most acrobatic fashion imaginable - the last perfect piece of a play where the Buckeyes could not settle for getting it only 99.9% right.
So there they are... the top ten plays from Ohio State's national championship season. It's not the timeliest look at what happened, but you read it anyway because you're a superfan like me. Since you can't get enough of this, you probably have your own opinions about this topic. If they are different they are probably wrong, but let us hear them anyway by posting your response below.
GO BUCKS!!!!!
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