ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ed Warinner clasped his arms around the broad shoulders of Ezekiel Elliott and Taylor Decker, two of Ohio State's best players who double as leaders of the program.
The Buckeyes had just annihilated Michigan on its home turf, dominating the Wolverines in the second half to pull out a 42-13 victory and the trio was all smiles. There were loads of scarlet and gray grins on this day in the Big House.
"That’s what this is all about, it’s about the kids and the kids won the game today. They came out, they responded and they won the game," Warinner said. "I was so happy for Taylor Decker to have four pair of gold pants and for Zeke to establish himself as one of if not the top running back in the country. We all know that because we’ve been around him so it was just a good feeling to win a football game like that."
How the game was won was simple: Ohio State imposed its will on Michigan in Jim Harbaugh's first go-round as a head coach in The Game. Despite the new Wolverine boss' attempt to use Jabrill Peppers — his team's best athlete — in just about every conceivable possible, the Buckeyes were too deep, too determined and too motivated to lose back-to-back games for the second time under Urban Meyer.
"To come back from the kick in the stomach we took a week ago, it was an awful week of practice. Not awful, just as far as the way everybody felt. To come out and navigate a storm against an excellent team that we have a lot of respect for, very good personnel. Especially that defense. To come out and do that against them, just shows you this is one of the best group of kids I've ever been around."
Meyer watched Elliott and quarterback J.T. Barrett rip around, over and through the nation's second-ranked defense for 353 of the team's 369 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Decker and the rest of the offense fed off a boost in the tempo, aided by Warinner's move to the press box and presumed take over of play calling.
"We just did what the offensive line's been asking for," Decker said. "We did a lot of tempo, all the tight zone and gap scheme plays. It just wears the defense out. Our game plan wasn't very complicated, but it was high execution. You guys could see what happens when that happens."
"That was intentional," Warinner said. "We wanted to play fast and it’s easier to play fast when you can see what’s going on and make the next call, see the spots. Part of playing fast is the next call, well is is it 2nd-and-10 or is it 2nd-and-5? Is it 3rd-and-2 or is it 2nd-and-8? The situations, you see them, and you don’t have to wait for someone to tell you and then process it. You just see it all and go."
Quick decision making by not only Warinner, but Barrett in the read option running game helped wear down a depleted Wolverine front, which was out two starters due to injury. It likely wouldn't have made much difference, though. The Buckeyes were more talented top to bottom and more than ready to make a statement after their 17-14 debacle a week prior at home against Michigan State.
"I think you live and you learn. That's just a life lesson and I think we applied it to football being that last week we didn't execute the plan very well," Barrett said. "I think for some reason, we got away from what we did well. We just didn't play well. With that, you live and learn. Just come in here with a better focus knowing that this is it. We're talking about The Game. Just give it all you got, so I think that's what we tried to do today. I don't think there was a secret formula or lucky draws. Nothing like that. It was more of just execution and knowing that this is The Game. It's the biggest game of the year. Always is. So just lay it on the line for each other."
"I feel it was less about them and more about us," added Decker. "It’s more about the guys in our locker room, our team. Like I said, I love all those guys. We really are a family and it’s been that way for the past four years. I think it was more about us bouncing back and kind of showing what our program is about, what we’re made of than ruining their day."
They Buckeyes still had a slight chance to earn an trip to Indianapolis by taking care of their arch-rival, but that ship sailed to East Lansing when Michigan State firmly disposed of Penn State, 55-16. A very outside chance for Ohio State to make its second consecutive College Football Playoff rests in the need for extreme chaos on championship weekend, but the Buckeyes were more than satisfied with the final outcome Saturday after playing so poorly on Senior Day.
"I feel like as a team this week was real hard for us," Michael Thomas said. "The only way that we could prove ourselves or take out our energy and show what we could do to bounce back and correct our mistakes was in this environment in this stadium. That's the opportunity we had and when the opportunity presented itself we dominated. We still could get better."
Darron Lee, who shook off some missed tackles in the first half to help the defense hold Michigan to three points in the game's final 30 minutes, agreed.
"Like Mike said, we had a bad feeling in our stomach, but we knew we were going on the road and couldn't split apart. Just had to come together and play for each other today. It was nine units strong."
Barrett threw for 113 yards, too, along with a scoring toss to Jalin Marshall that saw the H-back leap above a defender and reel in the pass to give Ohio State a double-digit lead it would never relinquish.
"That’s probably my favorite play of all-time," Marshall said. "Growing up in Ohio, it’s a dream come true to play in the Team Up North’s stadium and be legendary as a Buckeye."
Elliott's 214 yards put moved him to second place on the Ohio State rushing yards list, trailing only two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. He shoved by Eddie George, another Heisman winner.
That word hasn't been tossed around much this season by Meyer, but after watching Elliott beg for more touches following the program's fourth loss in four years last weekend and then deliver in a big way Saturday afternoon, he couldn't hold back any longer.
"I think, I don't lobby, or maybe I do, he should be in New York. That's one of the best players in America. He should be a Heisman guy. I don't know if he should win it, I don't know the other guys, but I've been fortunate to be around, he's as good a player as I've ever been around. And he's on a team that's 11-1, we're 11-1 and he's one of the best players I've ever been around."
Elliott's comments and declaration for the 2016 NFL Draft — "there's no chance I'll be back next year," he said — after the stunning loss to the Spartans threatened to derail Ohio State's season behind such a horrid performance. How would the Buckeyes respond on the road against their biggest rival? Would the offense get rolling? Could the defense stop Jake Rudock, Jake Butt and Peppers?
Turns out, all Meyer needed to iron out the speed bump of his running back's outburst was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner Thursday with his and Elliott's family.
"It's never ... I hate to disappoint everybody, but it's never been anything other than perfect. Whatever was said last week, I think he apologized 37, 38 times. I lost track," Meyer said. "I told him he doesn't need to apologize. He's got banked investment with the Meyer family and the coaches and Coach Warinner and all that, and the team. We actually did for the third year in a row spent Thanksgiving together."
"I really let my emotions get the best of me and I regret everything I said," Elliott said. "I want to be the ultimate team player. That's what I strive for: To be the ultimate team player and if you turn on the film and watch me play, I hope you can see that. I would never want to do anything to hurt this university or distract this team from what our goal was."
Meyer joked about potentially making it four straight Thanksgiving dinners with the Elliotts in 2016, but knows that won't happen with his running back's intentions to enter the NFL Draft. That didn't matter Saturday, as Meyer took the first victory in a budding rivalry with Harbaugh, who had plenty of hype surrounding his first season with the Maize and Blue. It left Michigan's head coach nearly speechless after.
"I just, against a team that was an excellent team. A team that has as good a defense as there is in college football. You take it all in, you come rocking into this stadium. It was rocking," Meyer said. "Our offensive line, defensive line controlled the game. To answer your question I don't want to go where you were headed, if you (lost two straight), it would be dire straits right now. You could win a million games in a row and you lost two in a row and you're back to square one."
The Buckeyes won't get a chance to win their second consecutive Big Ten Championship, but put forth arguably their most complete performance of the season against a Michigan team revitalized by Harbaugh.
Warinner's move to the press box brought back similar feelings of the 2014 national title team, and Elliott, Barrett, Decker, Marshall, Thomas and Joey Bosa made the big plays they were brought to Columbus to make in games like these.
"Crazy, huh?" Barrett said. "I think today was just a way to show that this team is resilient and able to bounce back from adversity. That was everybody. It was definitely a team effort. It wasn't offense, defense or just special teams, separate groups on the team. It was definitely a team win. A great team win."
"When you don’t lose very often as a team, it’s hard to take that," Marshall said. "Just like, if you were losing a lot and you won, you’d probably storm the field. It’s just things that happen with losing not very often, it’s just weird. It’s a weird feeling and you have to get that out of your stomach and just play the next game."
Ohio State doesn't know its opponent for its next game, but is in excellent position for a New Years Six bowl even if it misses out on the College Football Playoff. An 11-1 record after a resounding victory over Michigan took care of that that.
"It's not more of a 'where's this been' it's more of a finally this work is showing, it's paying off," Joshua Perry said. "I think that's just huge that we've been able to stay together through everything, through outside expectations of what we should have been and then what we've been doing it. The fact that we've been so close as a team is pretty cool."
And Decker, who along with Perry and 16 other seniors earned his fourth pair of gold pants after completing a career sweep of Michigan, spoke for not only his class, but his team.
"I think we had to get that hurting feeling out of us. The only way to do that is show up and dominate, especially in the rivalry game, especially to send this senior class out with gold pants. This was just a huge game to get this feeling out of us after that tough loss. That was the best way to get it out, to dominate over our rivals."
