It is one thing to beat your rival, but it is an entirely different thing to embarrass them on their home turf.
That's exactly what Ohio State did to Michigan in Ann Arbor Nov. 28, stomping the Wolverines and their vaunted defense with nearly 500 total yards of offense in a 42-13 statement victory.
"I think we took the game away, just when the offensive line really started controlling it," Urban Meyer said moments after his fourth victory against Michigan as head coach.
The battery of running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback J.T. Barrett combined for 351 of 369 rushing yards and five touchdowns that day at Michigan Stadium, resulting in a wealth of smiles all across the team both on the field and in the locker room postgame.
It's those good feelings and stellar performance from a unit that had at times struggled in 2015 the No. 7 Buckeyes wish to replicate New Year's Day against No. 8 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
"It’s really just building off that feeling we were feeling after the game and how emotional it was and carrying over to practice," right guard Pat Elflein said Thursday. "At practice you can see everyone is hyped up, it’s high intensity."
“We did what we could with our situation and did the best we could. Beating The Team Up North, we have to carry that over to our next game.”– Pat Elflein
Ohio State's offense still put up solid numbers in 2015, finishing second in the Big Ten in scoring offense and third in total offense. However, the back-and-forth with Barrett and Cardale Jones at quarterback, coupled with the losses from last year's championship team and a new play caller in quarterbacks coach Tim Beck, took some getting used to.
Finally, Meyer had enough. He put offensive line coach Ed Warinner alongside Beck in the press box for the game at Michigan to help with play calling, and the offensive juggernaut in the form of a mighty rushing attack resurfaced.
"It was not easy," Meyer said Thursday about the new adjustments after losing Tom Herman to Houston. "I think Ed Warinner, you can't coach all five guys, and to be able to have significant input in the play calling. You need a stable — and Tim Beck and him, those were a pretty good setup in the final game."
Ohio State roasted Michigan with its uptempo rushing attack, which eventually caused a depleted Wolverine front to tire. As the game grew older, Elliott and Barrett only grew stronger.
"The tempo was working. They were getting tired and we were in pretty good shape," Elflein said. "We were taking advantage of that. We kept hitting them in the mouth and they weren’t getting set. We were rolling and rolling."
Coming off a loss to Michigan State the week before, Ohio State had one last shot to right the ship with the odds working against it for making the Big Ten Championship Game. The pace of play was a huge theme that day, just like it was Thursday among the offensive players who spoke to the media.
"Obviously, the game plan was pretty simplified. We just ran a little bit of tempo, ran power, tight zone stuff like that," Taylor Decker said. "Obviously Coach Warinner got to go in the box and call the plays."
The speed has continued early in the bowl practices.
"I feel good about our tempo, I think that's part of what we do as Ohio State is playing fast," J.T. Barrett said. "Get the defense tired so they're not able to make adjustments and get stuck in their base coverages and not be able to blitz. That's one thing we're focusing on these bowl practices so far."
Notre Dame allowed an average of 167.8 rushing yards in their 12 regular season affairs. Meyer said Warinner will remain in the press box for at least this game.
All signs point to a similar offensive game plan for Ohio State in the desert as they showed in Michigan Stadium.
"We did what we could with our situation and did the best we could," Elflein said. "Beating The Team Up North, we have to carry that over to our next game."
