On a cold and windy day in East Lansing, Urban Meyer's offense largely looked like it had never seen such conditions but put together a key 2nd half touchdown drive and relied on the defense from there in a 17-16 decision over a three-win Michigan State outfit.
Meyer improved to 18-1 at Ohio State in the month of November thanks to the great escape. More importantly the victory improved Ohio State to 10-1 on the season setting up a showdown with 10-1 Michigan next Saturday in the 113th edition of The Game.
Because 99.5% of you want to get on with Hate Week while the other 0.5% want to misdirect frustrations over using the word "hate", I'll try to keep Five Things short and sweet so we can all start gearing up for the greatest rivalry in sports.
CARRY THAT WEIGHT
With the Buckeye offense barely able to crack the 300-yard total offense barrier, Ohio State's defense came to the rescue.
The Bullets forced a pair of interceptions including the game-sealer by Gareon Conley with under two minutes to play as part of a sturdy effort in shutting down the Sparty passing attack and that doesn't include Malik Hooker's clutch interception of a two-point conversion attempt to save the day with 4:41 left in the 4th quarter.
The quarterback combo of Tyler O'Connor and Damion Terry managed just eight completions in 21 attempts for 127 yards on the day including a 5 for 13 effort for 40 yards in the 2nd half.
The defense did have some rough moments surrendering big plays of 64 and 61 yards to LJ Scott but on Michigan State's other 54 plays the green and white averaged only 3.9 yards per play and went 3/12 on 3rd down conversion attempts.
Returning back to his home state, Damon Webb had himself a day with seven stops, a touchdown saving tackle and a PBU while the front four combined for five hurries, three TFL and two sacks.
MAGIC MIKE
Also returning to his home state, redshirt freshman Mike Weber went off for 111 yards on 14 carries (7.9 per) including a clutch 52-yard jaunt down the right sideline setting up his game-winning 4-yard touchdown plunge putting Ohio State in front 17-10 with 5:33 left in the 3rd quarter.
Believe it or not, this was Weber's first game with 100+ rushing yards since he went for a career-high 144 on 14 carries against Rutgers way back on October 1st.
Weber's big day pushed his season rushing total to 1,046 yards, making him just the third Ohio State freshman to rush for over 1,000 yards joining Maurice Clarett and Robert Smith.
Props to Weber for not only joining an exclusive club but also toughing out a shoulder injury for the last few weeks.
Ohio State needed his grit today and it will no doubt need it again next week in what should be a 60-minute fistfight with the Wolverines.
AND THE WIND CRIES BARRETT
I'm a J.T. Barrett defender so don't get it twisted but damn is it frustrating to watch him struggle so bad in windy conditions. I get it, no quarterback wants to throw in weather like we saw in East Lansing but Barrett has a tendency to look completely lost in the passing game when faced with an adverse climate.
As part of a 10/22 passing effort for 86 yards Barrett's struggles included a knuckleball in the direction of Curtis Samuel on a swing pass, a couple of passes tipped at the line of scrimmage as he stared down his target, a missed opportunity to connect with James Clark on a big gainer over the middle and a complete misfire again in Samuel's direction on a key 3rd and 12 in the 2nd half among other poor throws.
Of course, what makes Barrett so special is his ability to overcome the lows and respond in other ways such as rushing for 105 yards on 24 carries including a handful of key 3rd down conversions even as Michigan State knew a quarterback keeper was coming out of Ohio State's repeated empty sets.
He also avoided turning it over despite having about as much control over his throws as Rick Ankiel, and not all of them were hot garbage as evidenced by the touch he put on a beautiful 22-yard touchdown toss to Samuel in the 1st quarter.
Bottom line, Barrett needs a better performance next weekend if he wants to direct Ohio State to the winner's circle. Hopefully the weather gods will cooperate and give us a crisp yet calm Saturday afternoon.
POINT OF NO RETURN
How in the hell did the 2nd-best recruiter on the planet end up with a roster void of a legit, seasoned punt returner?
In Meyer's defense he thought he had his man as Dontre Wilson returned after handling the duties last year but because he waited too long to pull the plug on Wilson's high wire act, someone like freshman Demario McCall didn't get enough opportunities in blowouts to earn the required amount of trust.
That scenario forced Samuel into a role he hasn't filled at the collegiate level so in his defense, we shouldn't be shocked act his own troubles trying to fill the role.
Samuel dangerously fielded a Jake Hartbarger punt on a line drive bounce and to his credit managed to peel off 12 yards but on his second attempt, Samuel muffed a catch at his own 4 yard line before falling on it to retain possession.
Muffing a punt is never good but Samuel should've never even tried to catch it. I'm sure he's been counseled to put his heels on the 10 yard line and let anything behind him go but with his inexperience at this level those are the things that can happen. Worse yet, Samuel's lack of reps returning punts could get Ohio State's best player blown up.
For now, I'd honestly be fine with rushing 11 or going back to the Tressel method of putting two guys back there to at least avoid raw guys trying to catch punts on the run.
He'll probably end up taking one to the house against Michigan and make me look stupid which hey, sign me up.
GREAT SCOTT
I love watching LJ Scott play football. He's not overly shifty in space but the dude runs with purpose and since he's an Ohio guy, I wanted to give him a quick shoutout.
Scott kept Sparty in the game yesterday with 160 rushing yards and another 76 receiving with a pair of touchdowns.
He also keyed Michigan State's field goal drive with a 61-yard burst giving the Spartans a 10-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter.
With 236 total yards, Scott accounted for 71% of his team's output against the B1G's 2nd-ranked total defense (279.9 ypg).
