Amari Cooper (9) is a hard man to stop for opposing defenses. (Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports)
Ohio State went into the Big Ten championship game as an underdog with a third-team quarterback making his first start against a top-ranked defense. No one knew what to expect from the Buckeyes.
The pleasant surprise was the springboard Ohio State needed to catapult TCU into the inaugural College Football Playoff. As the No. 4 seed, the Buckeyes will play Alabama in a rekindling of a coaching rivalry between Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, who won his first Big Ten title. Between the two coaches they have won six national championships.
Their quarterbacks, who took wildly different paths to Thursday’s game at the Superdome in New Orleans, will be critical to the outcome.
Alabama quarterback Blake Sims recovered from a three-interception performance against Auburn in the regular-season finale with a remarkable performance against Missouri in the SEC championship game. He was 23-of-27 passing for 262 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-13 victory and also had a 17-yard run in the fourth quarter to set up a Tide touchdown.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player go through any more than Blake went through for four years as a player, and never once did he ever not do whatever he needed to do to help the team,” Saban said.
With third quarterback Cardale Jones running the offense with the poise of a veteran and the defense playing lights out, Ohio State rolled to a 59-0 victory over the Big Ten West champion Wisconsin in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“My coaches did an unbelievable job preparing me to play on that stage — the biggest stage of the season. All the credit goes to the them,” Jones said Tuesday.
Jones said he prepared as the starter for two years, and he wants teammates to trust he will deliver in the biggest game of their lives. That was a far cry from 2013 spring practice, when Meyer went to Jones to tell him to “get my act together or you won’t be here.”
“You never know when your time comes,” Jones said.
When the selection committee made the announcement, Ohio State (12-1) was in as the “clear cut” No. 4 seed and paired against top-seeded Alabama (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1.
The winner advances to the CFP championship game on Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas, to face the team that emerges from the Rose Bowl — either No. 2 seed Oregon or No. 3 seed Florida State.
“We’re honored to be a part of the first College Football Playoff,” Meyer said.
Meyer said Tuesday that he still is searching for the major weakness in Alabama.
“There aren’t many,” he said.
A playoff berth seemed improbable for the Buckeyes before the season when quarterback Braxton Miller, the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August.
Then came a bad loss at home in Week 2 to Virginia Tech that rocked Ohio State.
But the Buckeyes turned around their season with redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett emerging at quarterback and playing spectacularly while leading them to the Big Ten East Division title.
Ohio State took another punch to the gut when Barrett broke his right ankle in the regular-season finale against Michigan. Also that week, reserve defensive tackle Kosta Karageorge went missing and later was found dead in a dumpster near his apartment from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
That left an offense clicking on all cylinders having to go with the untested Jones under center for the biggest game of the year.
It turned out the Buckeyes didn’t have to worry.
The sophomore stepped in and delivered a stellar performance on the big stage, completing 12 of 17 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in the Buckeyes’ 11th consecutive victory.
With Barrett out until next year, Jones will be the called upon again to lead the Buckeyes against the Crimson Tide and potentially in the championship game.
Meyer recognizes the challenge the Buckeyes face against Alabama. When Meyer was at Florida, he faced off against Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban in two SEC championship games.
“I think we’re a building program and they’re an established program,” Meyer said. “We have to be on point to beat this team. I know exactly what we’re going to see.”
Buckeyes
–QB Cardale Jones will be making his second career start in the Sugar Bowl. His first start couldn’t have been much better in the 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. The Buckeyes never trailed and Jones made it look easy against the nation’s No. 2 defense.
He connected on 12 of 17 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns and didn’t have a turnover. But the spotlight will be more intense in the Sugar Bowl and Jones is likely to face more pressure from Alabama’s athletic defense.
–RB Ezekiel Elliott ran hard against Wisconsin and found plenty of holes in the Big Ten Championship game. Elliott rushed for 220 yards on 20 carries. One of his two touchdowns was an 81-yard run in the second quarter. The sophomore outperformed Wisconsin standout Melvin Gordon. Elliott has 1,402 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns this year but couldn’t make first- or second-team All-Big Ten because of the talent at running back in the conference.
–DE Joey Bosa had four solo tackles in the Big Ten Championship game and returned a fumble four yards for a touchdown in the final minute of the first half to boost Ohio State’s lead to 31-0 at halftime. The sophomore was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in tackles for loss (17) and sacks (13.5) and ranking second in forced fumbles (three).
Bosa was part of a shutdown defense that pitched a shutout and held Wisconsin to 258 total yards in the conference championship game.
–WR Devin Smith, Ohio State’s big-play specialist with a 26.6-yards per catch average, caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Cardale Jones in the 59-0 rout in the Big Ten championship game. The senior opened the scoring with a 39-yard reception in the end zone and added a 44-yarder in the second quarter and a 42-yarder in the third quarter. He finished the game with four receptions for 137 yards, boosting his season totals to 30 catches, 799 yards and 11 touchdowns. Smith passed Cris Carter for second in career touchdown catches in Ohio State history with 29.
Crimson Tide
–WR Amari Cooper set an SEC championship game record with 12 receptions against Missouri. Entering the playoffs, he has 115 receptions for 1,656 yards and 14 touchdowns for the year, all school single-season records.
–LB Xzavier Dickson is the Tide’s sack master. He has eight for the season and has been credited with 10 quarterback hurries. Of his 37 total tackles, 10.5 have been for losses.
–SS Landon Collins leads the Tide in tackles with 91 stops after recording seven in the title game. He also forced a fumble in Alabama’s win over Mizzou. Collins leads the team in interceptions with three and has broken up six other passes.
BOWL HISTORY: Ohio State has a 20-24 record in bowl games and 0-3 all-time against Alabama. The Buckeyes’ last visit to the Sugar Bowl came at the end of the 2010 season when they defeated Arkansas 31-26, but the win was vacated as part of the Tattoo-gate scandal. Ohio State, led by coach Woody Hayes, lost to Bear Bryant-coached Alabama 35-6 in the Sugar Bowl after the 1977 season. The last meeting was in the 1995 Citrus Bowl, a 24-17 Crimson Tide win. Coach Urban Meyer is 2-1 in head-to-head meetings with Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Alabama has made 61 postseason appearances with an “official” record of 34-23-3. Its 2005 Cotton Bowl win over Texas Tech was vacated. The 45-31 Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma last season ended a four-game postseason winning streak for the Tide, which included three victories in BCS national championship appearances. Bama has played Ohio State twice in bowls, winning the 1977 season Sugar Bowl 35-6 and the 1994 season Citrus Bowl 24-17.
