With talk of Ohio State being vulnerable following last weekend's upset loss to Michigan State the prevailing feeling was that the Buckeyes would finally be in for a dogfight with Michigan.
Instead, the Buckeyes ran roughshod over Michigan's No. 2-ranked defense en route to a convincing 42-13 victory in the Big House.
The 29-point win – the largest by Ohio State in Ann Arbor since 1961 – welcomed Jim Harbaugh back to The Game, improved Urban Meyer to 4-0 against Michigan and to 18-0 on the road since his arrival in Columbus.
The Buckeyes didn't get much help on the College Football Playoff front but still have a slim chance to sneak in the back door and claim the last of four spots pending the outcome of games such as Clemson vs. North Carolina and Florida vs. Alabama.
For now however, here are Five Things from Ohio State's 13th win in the last 15 tries against the maize and blue.
EZEKIEL 30:214
Following a frustrating 12 carry, 33 yard performance in the loss to Michigan State, Ezekiel Elliott rebounded with his typical great vengeance and furious anger in a dominant 30 carry, 214 yard, two touchdown performance against Michigan's vaunted defense.
His determined effort fell just shy of Carlos Hyde's record of 226 rushing yards set against Michigan in 2013 but was more than enough to force Ohio State to once again edit the record books including:
- Elliott passed Eddie George (3,768) for 2nd place on OSU's career rushing list with 3,812 yards.
- Zeke's 5th 200+ yard rushing game tied George for most in school history.
- With the 214 yards pushing his season rushing total to 1,672, Elliott joined Archie Griffin as the only back in school history with multiple 1,500+ yard rushing seasons.
Elliott got rolling early as his 66-yard gallop around left tackle on Ohio State's second possession of the game paved the way for a 94-yard scoring march capped two plays later by J.T. Barrett's 7-yard run putting the Buckeyes in front early, 7-0.
On OSU's next possession Zeke would tally the final 13 yards of a 75-yard touchdown drive giving the Buckeyes a 14-3 edge.
Leading just 14-10 at the break, Ohio State got the ball to start the 2nd half and after Zeke hauled in a 7-yard pass he gashed the Wolverines with runs of 21, 15 and nine yards before Barrett found Jalin Marshall on a 25-yard touchdown pass extending OSU's lead to 21-10.
Two possessions later, Elliott peeled off a 28-yard dash as part of a 65-yard drive he capped on his own with a 10-yard burst pushing the cushion to 35-13, effectively turning the lights out in the Big House.
BARRETT'S BACK
Last week it looked as if not only Barrett was unsure of himself but so was the staff as the game plan involved very few pass plays as part of an ultra-conservative effort producing five first downs. In the two games since J.T. Barrett's brush with the law which came shortly after regaining the starting quarterback job, the redshirt sophomore looked largely uncomfortable directing the offense.
Yesterday, Barrett regained the form he showed for much of last season amassing 252 total yards with four touchdowns as the Buckeye offense churned out 482 yards and 42 points against a defense giving up just 263 yards and less than 15 points per game.
Barrett attempted only 15 passes, completing nine, mostly because Michigan couldn't stop him on the run. Barrett posted a better yards per carry (7.3) than Elliott (7.1) on the way to 139 yards and three scores.
When Barrett wasn't torching Michigan with his own feet, he was making the correct reads assisting in Elliott's big day.
THREE IN 30
After giving up 10 points in the 1st half – all immediately following scoring drives from the OSU offense – and a ridiculous eight 3rd down conversions in 11 tries thanks largely to the passing of Jake Rudock, the Silver Bullets tightened things up the 2nd half.
Rudock, who had completed five of eight passes for 65 yards on 3rd down in the opening half could even finish the game as Bosa slammed him to the turf early in the 4th quarter. Rudock and his backup, Wilton Speight, combined to complete just two of six passes 3rd down pass attempts in the 2nd half for a modest 12 yards.
With the passing game finally under control thanks to a relentless pass rush fueled by Bosa, the defense stopped Michigan on six of seven 3rd downs in the final 30 minutes.
The result was one useless field goal on six 2nd half possessions sandwiched between two punts, two turnovers on downs and an interception on a athletic play by Bosa showing exactly why he could be the top pick in this spring's NFL Draft.
LONG DRIVE CHALLENGE
A week after Michigan State demoralized Ohio State with two long scoring drives the Buckeyes pulled off the same backbreaking tactic against Michigan registering five touchdown drives of at least 75 yards.
In fact, those five drives averaged 82 yards in length, on 9.2 plays, representing 410 of Ohio State's 482 total yards. The marches were even more demoralizing to Michigan because the Wolverines came in hanging their hat on the nation's 2nd-best defense.
Elliott got the fun bus rolling with a 66-yard burst after a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Buckeyes' second possession new life. Two plays later Barrett was in the end zone to cap a seven-play drive giving OSU a 7-0 lead.
Leading 7-3, Ohio State then went 75 yards in nine plays featuring a 25-yard Barrett keep up the gut and a 16-yard jaunt on 3rd and 2 triggered by a strong block from Chase Farris before Elliott capped the drive with a short run being Pat Elflein to make it 14-3 good guys.
Nursing a 14-10 lead at the break Ohio State took the 2nd half kickoff and rumbled 82 yards in eight plays thanks to three strong runs from Elliott before Marshall made his highlight reel catch on a 25-yard throw from Barrett giving the Buckeyes a 21-10 lead.
Still up 21-10, Ohio State delivered the knockout blow in the form of a 16-play, 84 yard drive chewing up 7:05 along with the hearts of the maize and blue. The Buckeyes converted four 3rd downs with some slick play calling including a true option left in which Curtis Samuel ate up 11 yards off a pitch from Barrett and a 12-yard reception from Samuel on a well-designed rollout to the wide side of the field. Eight plays later Barrett streaked 13 yards to paydirt extending the lead to 28-10.
Ohio State was back at it following a Wolverine field goal marching 75 yards on just six plays as Barrett hit Thomas for 38 yards ahead of Zeke's 10-yard slash to victory lane putting the game out of reach at 35-13 early in the 4th quarter.
IT'S NOT WISE TO DOUBT URBAN MEYER
Many fans and media pundits left Ohio State for dead following last week's disaster and there were certainly reasons to question what the Buckeyes would bring to the table in Ann Arbor.
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Elliott's comments, regardless of your opinion on whether the act was right or wrong, gave Urban something unconventional to navigate while also assessing team's play calling logistics, the team itself hadn't experienced a loss in over 400 days creating a potentially fragile psyche and with a ton of guys in position to be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft, there was some concern over just how bought in everyone would be in giving a passionate effort on the road.
So how would Urban respond?
First, he fell on the play calling grenade publicly then surprised everyone by putting Ed Warinner in the press box to call the plays for the first time this season, largely marginalizing Tim Beck's role with the program in the process.
He adeptly handled the swirl around Zeke's comments by reflecting on the truth in the words, refusing to let the situation become a distraction.
Whatever words he had for a team that knew it was most likely not in position to repeat as national champs no matter what it did in Ann Arbor worked as the Buckeyes dominated a game Vegas saw as a virtual toss up. The fact most of those juniors with a chance to leave early for the NFL had big games including Bosa, Thomas and Elliott only reinforces that reality.
Yes, last week was a shit show but that doesn't change the fact Urban Meyer still only has one peer in the college game.
