Urban Meyer said the most important thing from his Ohio State team's 24-20 victory against Northwestern was his players "nutted up" when they absolutely had to in order to leave Ohio Stadium with a victory. No greater example of that came than during the game's final drive.
Armed with three timeouts and facing a 4th-and-goal from the 16-yard line after a holding penalty and incomplete pass, Pat Fitzgerald chose to kick a field goal to cut Ohio State's lead to four. He said after the game the penalty made him kick—if the Wildcats faced 4th-and-goal from the 5, he was going for it.
Jack Mitchell nailed the 33-yard field goal and booted the ensuing kickoff into the end zone. With 3:31 left on the clock, J.T. Barrett and Ohio State's offense trotted out on the field with a chance to secure the team's seventh win.
1st-and-10, Ball on Ohio State 25
Result: J.T. Barrett throws incomplete to Noah Brown
An inauspicious way to start a potential game-sealing drive if you're Ohio State, especially with Northwestern having three timeouts at its disposal and the clock working against Fitzgerald.
After faking a handoff to Mike Weber on a play-action power concept, Barrett rolled right and fired too wide to Brown, who had created separation from the Northwestern defensive back. The ball hit Brown in the hands but he couldn't reel it in.
Visibly upset with himself, Barrett peered to the sideline for the next play. He knew Ohio State needed to come back with something deadly on its next two plays.
2nd-and-10, Ball on Ohio State 25
Result: J.T. Barrett rush for 2 yards
Barrett faked to Weber once again on a read-option "Bash" concept with the running back going outside and quarterback inside, electing to keep it as the defensive end crashed hard in the backfield. The quarterback picked his way to at least get two yards as the Wildcats got a small push on Ohio State's offensive line.
Fitzgerald burned the first of his three timeouts to kill the clock at 3:20. With the game hanging in the balance, Barrett and the offense went to the sideline facing a do-or-die play.
An incomplete pass or one short of the line to gain would give Northwestern the ball in decent field position with roughly 3 minutes to play provided Cameron Johnston—who uncharacteristically averaged just 36.6 yards on five punts Saturday—didn't smash a kick deep down field.
3rd-and-8, Ball on Ohio State 27
Result: J.T. Barrett completes pass to Noah Brown for 16 yards
With the lack of a conventional deep threat at their disposal, Barrett and the Ohio State offense have faced Cover 3 deep for the majority of the 2016 season. That rang true again on Saturday, as really the only deep shot the Buckeyes tried all game was the one that fell incomplete to James Clark earlier in the game.
“I know it might be hard for you to understand but they’re playing off. They’re playing like 12 yards off of us,” Barrett said after the game. “I think if anything, they respect our vertical passing game and try to eliminate that by having people deep. So it’s not really limited as a deep threat at receiver.
“I know we had a misfire on 3rd down with James, which was more ball placement on my part. But I think that’s something that needs to be expressed. They’re playing deep so we’re hitting all of our underneath routes.”
Such a situation adds stress to Barrett and his receivers to create separation or find soft spots in the zone either on comeback or out routes, or to try and beat defenders in space on swing passes. On this particular 3rd down, however, the Wildcats played Cover 2-man instead and Brown made them pay even with a route that was tough to execute against such a defense.
The Buckeyes ran a variation of "Smash" with the wideout running a corner route coupled with the back running a flare to create a high-low stretch. Brown turned the defensive back around, Barrett rifled a strike right to him at Ohio State moved the sticks.
“J.T. to Noah, they were playing two-man, men under coverage, which is a hard-to-execute corner route,” Meyer said.
But Brown made it happen and Barrett got him the ball to keep the drive alive and clock moving. As important as Barrett's eventual 35-yard run a few plays later ended up being to finally put the nail in Northwestern's coffin, this 3rd down gave fans and the offense a reason to exhale for the time being.
1st-and-10, Ball on Ohio State 43
Result: J.T. Barrett rush for no gain
Fitzgerald elected not to call his second timeout before or after this play, figuring it could be better served if his offense got the ball back provided the Buckeyes did not pick up another first down. He looked smart after the 1st down play, as Meyer and Ed Warinner dialed up a quarterback split-zone play to keep the ball in their quarterback's hands after bleeding the play clock inside 5 seconds.
With a little more than 2 minutes left to play, the Wildcats needed two more stops.
2nd-and-10, Ball on Ohio State 43
Result: J.T. Barrett throws incomplete to Noah Brown over the middle
Looking toward his favorite and most trusted target once again in a curls concept where all wide receivers try to sit in the zone's soft spot, Barrett's third pass attempt of the drive fell incomplete after he had considerable time in the pocket to survey his options. The clock read 1:57 once the ball hit the turf, a nice deflection by the defender that the officials could have easily called pass interference.
The play helped Northwestern's cause immensely, as Fitzgerald did not have to burn another timeout before seeing his defense get in another 3rd down situation. As long as the Wildcats held on the next play, their offense would get the ball back with one, and possibly two, timeouts at its disposal.
As we know, Barrett had other ideas.
3rd-and-10, Ball on Ohio State 43
Result: J.T. Barrett rush right for 35 yards
Arguably the best-executed play of the entire afternoon for Ohio State, Barrett read his blocks brilliantly and broke into the open after a quick fake left with Curtis Samuel flashing to the flat on the left. The quarterback executed this run-pass option perfectly once he saw the Northwestern middle linebacker chase Samuel to the flat. The left side of the line blocked as if it were a pass and Barrett made the play. But what Brown did 5 yards down the field helped the quarterback get first down yardage.
Brown took three steps forward on the snap, acting as if he was going out for a pass. That shifted the Northwestern corner's weight back and as the safety flew into the box. Brown turned his attention that way but not before throwing his forearm across the corner's chest and causing him to end up on his backside.
Brown finished the play by crossing in front of Barrett's face as the quarterback high-stepped away from a diving tackle attempt by a defensive lineman. The wide receiver's earhole block put the safety on the ground and released Barrett across midfield and into the open.
Here is Brown's block from another angle:
Roughly 25 yards later, Barrett slid down inbounds to keep the clock moving after officials reset the chains for the first down. Game over.
“They were playing two-man, which opens up the quarterback run game. So nobody is accounting for the quarterback run,” Barrett said. “We had a good block, I can’t remember who it was. We had a good block cracking on the safety and I was able to get out in the open field.”
Brown laid the block, Barrett's patience and ability as a runner moved the chains and left Fitzgerald to slam his headset to the ground in disgust.
1st-and-10: Ball on Northwestern 22
Result: Mike Weber rush middle for 11 yards
Fitzgerald did not call a timeout after Barrett's huge run, though the clock read 1:21 at Ohio State's next snap. He didn't call a timeout after this play either because Weber picked up a first down when Barrett stuffed it into his stomach once the quarterback saw the safety follow Samuel into the flat again (another run-pass option). The back fought for tough yards against Northwestern's defense, as the Wildcats could not bring Weber down or force a turnover and that essentially ended the game.
Now all Northwestern could do is hope for a turnover.
1st-and-10: Ball on Northwestern 11
Result: Mike Weber rush middle for 2 yards
Barrett took the snap from Pat Elflein with just 47 seconds on the clock and handed to Weber again, who fell forward for a few more yards.
Fitzgerald called a timeout with just 42 seconds left. Only the inevitable remained for the Wildcats.
2nd-and-8: Ball on Northwestern 9
Result: J.T. Barrett takes knee for loss of 4 yards
Barrett took another shotgun snap and retreated two steps, killing extra seconds before going down to one knee as the rush collapsed on him.
Fitzgerald called his final timeout only to delay the game's final outcome.
3rd-and-12: Ball on Northwestern 13
Result: J.T. Barrett takes knee for loss of 2 yards
In the only snap he took under center all game, Barrett and the offense stood in victory formation with 38 seconds left.
Game over.
Ohio State has four games remaining but is willing to look past its mistakes and issues to exhale and enjoy the victory against Northwestern. The Buckeyes looked like a College Football Playoff contender as they tore through the non-conference part of their schedule. That isn't the case right now.
Ohio State needs to be better in the trenches offensively in order to become a real threat to win the Big Ten East. But it did enough on Saturday to remain in that conversation, primarily with a final drive led by J.T. Barrett that sealed the win. That is all that matters.
“Pretty confident that we continue to grow on the offensive line. I think they bounced back and played much better,” Ed Warinner said. “Just in general, our offense played much better. When we needed them the most, they came through.”
The whole group did to save Ohio State's season. Even though the offense isn't putting up 50 points every weekend, the group is taking what the defense gives it, playing smart and specifically on Saturday, making winning plays to win a game. Not turning it over helps too.
That just might be where Ohio State is right now as it heads into a top-10 matchup against the 7-1 Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game is both team's first in the month of November, the month the Buckeyes always say championships are won or lost.
“We're a long way (off), we're just going to go try to find a way to beat Nebraska,” Meyer said.
