Ohio State did something against Northwestern it couldn't do the first seven games of its 2016 season: Score a touchdown on its first offensive drive.
A few days after Urban Meyer spoke about having "12 good scripted plays" when his offense took the field for the first time, J.T. Barrett drove the Buckeyes 94 yards against Northwestern in under 3 minutes.
“I like the fact we started fast,” Meyer said. “It seemed like both teams had long drives.”
“We train for moments like that all offseason,” Mike Weber said of the long drive. “When it came in an actual game, we talked about it. Captains said this happens in game, the strain and stuff like that. To see it unfold in the game, it’s kinda sweet.”
Weber's 1-yard scoring run capped a nine-play drive to put Ohio State out front early in the game, the first of three consecutive scoring drives that helped lead to an eventual 24-20 victory for the Buckeyes on Saturday. Northwestern scored four separate times on the afternoon. Those drives traveled 75, 82, 84 and 60 yards, with two field goals forced by the Buckeye defense proving to be the defense.
And the Ohio State offense running out the clock to end the game after Pat Fitzgerald elected to kick a 33-yard field goal when a holding penalty made it 4th-and-long.
“I had three options, either I go for it and don’t get it, kick a field goal or go for it and score a touchdown,” Fitzgerald said. “I chose the decision in the middle. We had two chances to get stops on long third downs and we didn’t get it done. That’s on us as a coaching staff.”
Barrett hit Noah Brown for a first down on 3rd-and-8 on the ensuing drive, then ran 35 yards on 3rd-and-10 to slam the door on the Wildcats. Fitzgerald did two things when he chose to kick the field goal—show faith in his defense and show a lack of belief in Ohio State's offense, which punted on five straight possessions after Weber's second touchdown run made it 17-7 in the second quarter.
“We struggled in certain aspects last week but to have that confidence and go back out, and as an offensive line we said ‘put the game on us,’” Billy Price said. “Don’t depend on a receiver out in the corner, put the ball on us and put it on who our program is driven on.”
“What was basically said is this is why we come here,” Barrett said. “This is about the training that we do. We go out here and grind out Big Ten football games.”
“The two third downs in the final drive — J.T. to Noah, they were playing two man, men under coverage, which is a hard-to-execute corner route. And then the Q run, which if you have an athletic quarterback, they play two man, you can make them pay the price. So J.T. was outstanding. And nothing was perfect, but we're going to enjoy that win and go.”
Nothing was perfect, as problems with the downfield passing game again reared their ugly head for Ohio State like they did a week ago in a 24-21 loss at Penn State. But Barrett threw for 223 yards and the Buckeyes ran for 208 as a team. Ohio State converted 10-of-17 third downs and did not turn the ball over.
Clayton Thorson's brilliance kept the Wildcats around in what became a ball control Big Ten affair between a team on a three-game winning streak and another working through growing pains that were largely masked in its hot start to the season.
“We’re still gaining momentum,” Luke Fickell said. “It’s a great opportunity to see some things that we need to work on. We’re going to celebrate this, we’re going to be excited. It didn’t happen last week. The reality is, it’s not easy winning but guys gotta work at it.”
“We feel like people are on our backs, from other teams to people here,” wide receiver K.J. Hill said. “We just go out every day and try to prove them wrong.”
“At the beginning of the year, that was non-conference but when you get into conference play I'm comfortable with where we're at,” Barrett said. “I know there are things we can absolutely get better at but as far as our offense, I think we're executing. We try to be a 500 yards-type of offense and I think we're getting close to that.”
“Our team went on the road to play in three ridiculous, really tough environments,” Meyer added. “They grew up. They got tougher. They went and played a team that just beat Michigan State, Indiana and Iowa, two of them on the road and they were in a street fight and they end up winning. Very proud of them. I love these guys.”
Meyer's group escaped Wisconsin with a victory two weeks ago but fell short against Penn State. The loss hurt but did not eliminate Ohio State's chances at making the Big Ten Championship Game but showed a young team it can't take for granted winning games. Plays have to be made, like Hill's 34-yard catch that helped set up Curtis Samuel's game-clinching 3-yard touchdown run.
Northwestern defenders jumped at Samuel in the flat because the Buckeyes threw his way on that play multiple times earlier in the game. It left Hill wide open on a wheel route in a soft spot of the Wildcat zone. The catch was Hill's only on in the game.
“I was in the slot, I stalked the linebacker, he bit on Curt with the wheel and I was in a hole so he threw it to me. I knew it would be open the whole time and I was just grateful to get the opportunity.”
Second only to Barrett's scamper that sealed it on the final drive of the game, Hill's catch represented one of the very few explosive plays that brought an Ohio Stadium crowd used to dominant touchdown drives each time out to its feet.
Meyer hears them. He hears media members wondering if the offense has regressed once it got knee deep in Big Ten play. He also doesn't care.
“I think it's my 15th year as a head coach. What goes on in here—the questions, I'm good. I answer very honestly. Do I think you're unfair? I would never say that—first of all, I don't know what you say. I've just—I've got a team to coach, and we're getting better. We're 7-1 with a bunch of new players that I love to death right now and enjoy coaching them.”
A similar message rang throughout postgame interviews on Saturday. The Buckeyes are a work in progress but don't need to be operating at maximum capacity. The offense doesn't look anywhere near ready to take on a stout defense like Michigan but doesn't need to be right now.
That's Ohio State's story and it's sticking to it. Next on the list is 7-1 Nebraska.
“We're still a young team that plays really hard,” center Pat Elflein said. “We just gotta keep preparing in practice like we have this past week and how we did in the first part of the year. Good things will happen. It's a long season and especially these young guys who haven't been through it yet.”
“Billy said it last week. We've lost five games since Coach Meyer's been here,” Chris Worley said. “That still comes up. We can't harp on the negative, the game that we lost, or the way that we lost. All we can do is come out and go to work. If we continue to look back at that Penn State game, it'll be two losses, three losses, four losses. So we had to look forward to this game. Next is Nebraska.”
“We're kind of a dogfight team, I guess. That's fine,” Meyer said. “It builds a little character, I guess. Age is your coach, builds character for your players.
“We're good. We're not good, we're going to—we're a project,” he continued. “We're in—things are—young players and we're still working things out. But I'll tell you what, I promise you I'm going to enjoy this win and so are the players and we're going to move forward.”
