EAST LANSING, Mich. — Urban Meyer finally has to talk about it. He finally has to address The College Football Playoff in earnest. Why? Because the next game on the schedule is already a playoff game, one that pits his Ohio State Buckeyes against their greatest rivals.
“We're going to go home, enjoy the win and wait for assignment [Sunday],” Meyer said after the Buckeyes eked out a 17-16 victory at Michigan State. “I'll probably address it at some point.”
The discussion is likely to be a similar one to what Jim Harbaugh will have with his Michigan Wolverines. Big Blue is Ohio State's next assignment and even though neither team looked the part in Game 11—Michigan beat Indiana 20-10 at home but didn't take the lead for good until late in the third quarter—The Game is still setting up as an epic showdown.
“Today was a championship game,” Harbaugh said. “It kept us in it. It feels like a playoff win.”
If the Wolverines leave Ohio Stadium with a win next Saturday, they will head to Indianapolis the following week to play for the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State needs to win and hope Penn State falls to Michigan State in its season finale to get a chance at playing at Lucas Oil Stadium. But even if the Nittany Lions beat the Spartans, the Buckeyes are still very much in the Playoff discussion—as long as they beat Michigan.
“They don't hear it from us but they don't live in a cocoon either,” Meyer said of his players and the Playoff. “But to hear it from the media, ESPN and all that—it's part of it.”
It is the first time in a decade The Game meant this much—since No. 1 Ohio State and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith topped the No. 2 Wolverines 42-39 in a matchup of two unbeaten squads in 2006. The BCS decided who played for a championship then. Many thought Ohio State and Michigan should get a rematch in January for the national title.That didn't happen.
A rematch won't happen this year, either. Whoever wins on Saturday remains in the hunt for championships. The loser does not.
“It's bigger than yourself. It's bigger than me, all the quarterbacks that played here, all the people that are part of Buckeye Nation,” Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett said. “With that, I'm going to go out and prepare very hard next week so I'll be successful next week.”
Barrett struggled to throw the ball against Michigan State on Saturday, completing only 10 passes in a driving wind, frigid temperatures and various forms of precipitation. But he was a main part to the Buckeyes pasting together enough offense and points to leave Spartan Stadium victorious.
Ann Arbor got more snow than East Lansing, as Michigan Stadium's turf looked painted white by the time the clock wound to zero to signal the Wolverines' 10th win of the season. As a result, the lead story after the game on the team's website is an appraisal on the special teams units, which accounted for a pair of field goals in the second and third to keep Michigan in it in addition to terrific punt teams.
Two more blocked kicks and the ability of Jabrill Peppers in the return game helped Michigan win field position all afternoon and eventually its talent and home field advantage bore out to win what Harbaugh described as "an old-fashioned slobberknocker."
"With the field position battle, the net yards that come from punting and being able to back a team up—it was huge," Harbaugh said.
Meyer talked about his punt team in his postgame press conference too, if only to show his dismay for Cameron Johnston's final attempt. That boot rolled into the end zone with 2:04 left on the clock, the only touchback the Austrailian netted all afternoon in an otherwise stellar performance.
“I wish we wouldn't have punted the damn thing out of the end zone at the end, that was one of the most disappointing things,” Meyer said.
Special teams are part of the little things that help you win close games. It helped Michigan and Ohio State leave the game before The Game without a loss.
Now, it is rivalry week. Time to dig in.
“We'll be playing for a championship next week,” Harbaugh said.
“Tough day at the office right there,” Meyer said. “We'll take the win against a team that we know very well on the road in November. Get ready for our rivalry week.”
