Cleveland Browns referring to entire fanbase as “The Dawg Pound”
January 15, 2015Despite Cavaliers Losing Streak, Ticket Prices Still High For Trip To LA
January 15, 2015One reading of Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game could have had Oregon as the angels to Ohio State’s demons. The contrast between the Ducks’ winged, pure white jerseys and the traditional scarlet numbers sported by the Buckeyes provided easy visual reinforcement if this was your preferred frame of reference. Oregon, the exciting nouveau riche of college football seeking their first national championship, would do battle with the blue blooded Buckeyes (vying for OSU’s eighth national title) in Jerry Jones’s cathedral to football (and capitalism). From a historical view, this narrative made sense.
But, throwing decades of history aside and instead focusing in on the progression of this season, a new narrative emerges for last night’s contest. Oregon was the established leviathan with the Heisman winner at quarterback that had spent almost the whole season in the top 10 of the rankings, falling out for just one week after a midseason loss to Arizona that they would later avenge in resounding fashion in the Pac 12 Championship Game. Ohio State was the upstart, humbled by the preseason loss of Braxton Miller and an ugly home debacle against lowly Virginia Tech. As the Buckeyes battened down the hatches and battled their way back up the rankings, they became a sympathetic team worth cheering for even for some neutral fans. Taking the field in Arlington, they were the ragtag group of young rebels who were supposed to be a year or two away from this lofty stage. And they were taking on the white-clad stormtroopers of Oregon’s Nike Empire.
My emotion, one that I believe was shared by many in scarlet and grey, can best be described as delirious disbelief.
When I was done wandering the AT&T Stadium concourse in awe, snapping pictures of the ESPN set, and exchanging “Go Bucks!” greetings with Eddie George, I finally settled into my seat — second deck in the Ohio State end zone in perfect position right behind the student section and The Best Damn Band In The Land — to watch and yell and hope that this wouldn’t be like those BCS Championship Game debacles against Florida and then LSU. Almost immediately, the bad flashbacks began.
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Everyone knows of the devastating speed at which Oregon’s offense operates. It’s impressive enough on television, but seeing it go to work in person is something else. Keeping your attention on the field as the Ducks unleash their offense is exhausting. Cheering and discussing the previous play with nearby neighbors becomes all but impossible. My mental endurance was tested in a way that I have never before experienced from simply watching a sporting event. I can’t even begin to imagine the physical stamina and focus required to play in or against that system. Before I fully had my bearings in my seat, the Ducks had their first touchdown. The next thing I knew they had the ball back after a Buckeyes drive went nowhere. The game looked like it could quickly turn into an Oregon boat race.
But then, against all odds, the Silver Bullets found a foothold and got a stop. Ezekiel Elliott started somewhat slowly but Urban Meyer kept giving him the ball. Finally, the sophomore running back and his bare midriff danced through the Oregon defense to tie the game, capping a 97-yard drive that saw Cardale Jones avoid a safety by inches before delivering a pinpoint strike to Corey Smith on the next play to convert a 3rd and 8 from Ohio State’s own 5 and keep the drive alive.
The rest of the first half was full of nerves. Jones and company was able to consistently move the ball, but turned it over twice in Oregon territory. Each time, the defense held, allowing Oregon only one more field goal. Every Oregon possession, the scarlet portions of the crowd were in full voice, but it was obvious that many had lingering doubts. Surely, this OSU defense couldn’t keep Marcus Mariota and the dangerous Ducks down forever. But again and again they got stops, including one massive goal line stand. Thanks to the fearless defense and two touchdowns from Jones (one rushing and one passing), the Buckeyes entered halftime with a 21-10 lead. They had the better of the play, but each and every OSU fan feared that the missed opportunities to extent the lead even further would come back to haunt the Buckeyes when Oregon’s offense eventually reawakened.
When the second half began with two more Ohio State turnovers that resulted in 10 quick Oregon points to narrow the gap to 21-20, it felt like the other shoe was on its way down. The staunchly Ohio State crowd began to waver in their tenuous belief that their team could hold on to the lead. The buzz from Oregon sections became nearly as electric as the green and yellow of their outfits. Though they could not have filled more than a third of the stadium, the Duck fans showed why Autzen Stadium is regarded as one of the toughest places in the nation to play in spite of its relatively small capacity.
At this point, one more faltering Ohio State drive could have provided the launch pad for one of Oregon’s patented blitzkrieg scoring streaks that leave their opponents gasping for air and grasping for answers. Instead, the big uglies of the Buckeye offensive line – a unit that served as an early season whipping boy after the Virginia Tech loss – decided that it was time to write the next chapter in the gospel of Ezekiel Elliott. The Buckeye back got the ball again and again. Oregon’s defense proved powerless to stop him. When Elliott needed a blow, massive Cardale Jones – who I imagine was employed as a human battering ram by medieval armies in a past life – ran through and over the Ducks. At one point he met an Oregon nose tackle head-on and drove him backwards. Suddenly, 21-20 became 28-20 and then 35-20 deep into the fourth quarter.
Clutching that 15-point lead, Urban Meyer opted to punt from around the Oregon 40 with just over four minutes remaining. Many in the stadium had hoped he would continue the aggressiveness he had shown all game and leave the offense on the field, but he opted instead to trust Luke Fickell and Chris Ash’s defense to add one more stop to their ledger for the day.
Only when Mariota (who had been knocked out of the game for one play during the series by a Joey Bosa hit) sailed a fourth down pass over the head of his intended receiver did the Buckeye faithful finally exhale. The last Ohio State possession served as the coronation of a new hero, as Elliott plunged in for his fourth touchdown of the day to a chorus 60,000 or so strong that serenaded him with chants of “Zeke!”
The next hour or so is largely a blur. My emotion, one that I believe was shared by many in scarlet and grey, can best be described as delirious disbelief. How had this team, the same one that was left for dead on the first Saturday in September, pulled this off? I’m not sure I totally believed what I had seen until after the confetti and the video montage and the trophy presentation, when the team finally made their way to our corner of the stadium to sing the most beautiful rendition of “Carmen, Ohio” that I have ever heard.
Walking out of football’s Taj Mahal, all I could think about was how wrong this whole season has been. Braxton Miller wasn’t supposed to get hurt. Even without him, the Buckeyes weren’t supposed to lose to Virginia Tech. With expectations readjusted after that loss, J.T. Barrett wasn’t supposed to lead them into East Lansing and emerge victorious. I’d like to think that even the most vocal Ohio State hater would admit that his injury against Michigan was cruel and unusual. Cardale Jones wasn’t supposed to beat Wisconsin, and he definitely wasn’t supposed to slay Alabama and Oregon in back-to-back games to win a national championship and become the anti-Garrett Gilbert. Yet, in just four and a half short months, all of those things happened.
Somehow, someway, the 2014-15 Ohio State Buckeyes found a jet stream — one known by names like Ezekiel Elliott, J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, Devin Smith, Jalin Marshall, Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, Darron Lee, Vonn Bell, Doran Grant, and Tyvis Powell — and arrived at the summit of college football way ahead of schedule. Don’t be surprised if they get pretty used to that spot in the years to come.
3 Comments
Super sophomores led the way can’t wait to see them as juniors along with the next wave of recruits landing in CBus.
Can’t imagine how Schlabach has TCU as his preseason #1. Moron.
that is exactly what he wants you to do.