OHIO STATE

Buckeyes’ loss a byproduct of a better Big Ten

Jon Spencer
Reporter

Before we turn the page, as Urban Meyer requested a few times during his Monday post-mortem, let’s linger a second on the prologue.

If the narrative back in August was that the Big Ten “is back” and that the East Division is fast becoming the new SEC West, then we should hardly be surprised that Ohio State’s 20-game road winning streak came to an end last Saturday night at Penn State.

No one has crowned James Franklin the way we have his coaching rivals in the East — Meyer and Jim Harbaugh and Mark Dantonio (whose Michigan State Spartans would gladly switch places with OSU). But the guy parlayed success at Vanderbilt, of all places, into his current gig, and his team showed Saturday he deserves more rope, especially with the Nittany Lions no longer in the clutches of NCAA sanctions.

Why, some might suggest OSU’s loss was inevitable given that it was the second straight game against a league rival that had an extra week to prepare, in two of the toughest venues in America — Camp Randall, where Wisconsin fans “jump around,” shaking the stadium to its core, and Beaver Stadium, home to the infernal roar of a mechanical Lion and epic “white outs,” whipped up by 107,000 fans.

And, still, it took two uncharacteristic gaffes on special teams, both in the fourth quarter, to knock the Buckeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten.

No doubt, in dropping Ohio State only four spots to No. 6, Associated Press pollsters took that into account, along with Meyer’s overall body of work, OSU’s 6-1 record this season despite 16 new starters, and its two wins over top 25 foes, with a team so young 30 freshmen have already pitched in.

Other years, the Buckeyes might have plummeted in the rankings after losing to an unranked team, but look at the landscape: Whichever poll you look at — the AP or the coaches’, where OSU is No. 8 — there are 10 teams with two losses.

One of them is 5-2 Wisconsin, ranked 11th in both polls. There are three undefeated teams between the Buckeyes and Badgers in the AP poll — No. 7 Nebraska (7-0), No. 8 Baylor (6-0) and No. 10 West Virginia (6-0). The writers were wise not to rank any of them ahead of Ohio State.

One of the keys for Ohio State on Saturday will be making sure dual-threat quarterback J.T. Barrett doesn’t have to do too much.

Nebraska, under Mike Riley, is a nice story. But the Cornhuskers’ best win — 35-32 over Oregon — doesn’t look so good now that the Ducks have collapsed. We’ll know more about the Huskers after they play at Ohio State next week and Wisconsin the week after.

The collective record of Baylor’s victims so far is 12-30 and West Virginia hasn’t beaten an FBS team with more than four wins, with a schedule that is back-loaded.

Nevertheless, Baylor and Nebraska are tied for sixth in the coaches poll, ahead of Ohio State.

It’s all background noise as long as Ohio State learns from its loss and runs the table, beating Michigan and, say, Wisconsin (again) en route to a Big Ten Championship and almost certainly a berth in the College Football Playoff.

There’s a hitch: If No. 2 Michigan loses before it plays in Columbus on Nov. 26 and Penn State, with only one league loss, runs the table, the Lions would own the head-to-head tiebreaker over OSU and represent the East in the Big Ten Championship Game.

But the chances of that happening for Penn State, which gave up 42 and 49 points in losses at Pittsburgh and Michigan, respectively, are as remote as Ohio State having two kicks blocked in the pivotal fourth quarter of a game.

Oh, wait.

“Let it hurt for awhile,” Meyer said about the blocked punt and blocked field goal resulting in 10 points and Penn State’s 24-21 comeback victory. “(But) you lose a game, you’re not a loser. If you lose a game, you accept it. That’s the message to our players. We work so hard so that doesn’t happen. It happened; move on.”

Meyer quickly tried to steer questioning Monday in that direction. Understandably. Northwestern comes to town this weekend, having completely turned its season around with four wins in its last five games.

On deck, after Northwestern, is a visit from Nebraska, which could be 8-0, coming off a win at Wisconsin. (Don’t see it.)

After the Buckeyes last lost a game, they reeled off eight wins in a row. Hmm.

A win in the national championship game would be their eighth straight.

Ohio State’ Curtis Samuel looks to duck Penn State safety Malik Golden in last Saturday’s game. Samuel had a 74-yard touchdown run against the Lions, but had only one other carry the rest of the game for the Buckeyes’ dysfunctional offense.

WHEN OSU

HAS THE BALL

90

Junior quarterback J.T. Barrett set the Ohio State record for touchdowns responsible for (passing and rushing) in the overtime win at Wisconsin. He added his 90th career TD last Saturday at Penn State — a 26-yard pass to tight end Marcus Baugh. The touchdown moves Barrett within striking distance of the most in the Big Ten since 1996. The only two players who have bettered Barrett in that span are Drew Brees of Purdue with 81 passing and 14 rushing for 95 and Denard Robinson of Michigan with 49 passing and 42 rushing for 91. The breakdown for Barrett is 62 passing and 28 rushing, tying him at 90 with former Michigan QB Chad Henne, who had the exact same split.

WHEN NU

HAS THE BALL

420

The Wildcats are averaging 420 yards, with a balanced attack of 243 passing and 176 rushing. With their Big Three of quarterback Clayton Thorson, running back Justin Jackson and receiver Austin Carr, it’s hard to believe Northwestern started 0-2. In the last three games, Thorson has completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 730 yards and nine TDs, with only one interception. Jackson, in that span, has 453 yards rushing, while Carr, in that three-game winning streak, has made six of his Big Ten-high nine scoring receptions.

KEY MATCHUPS

ON OFFENSE

The finger of blame for Penn State’s six sacks were pointed at the tackles, especially Isaiah Prince. They are two of the three new starters up front and it doesn’t get any easier this week. Ifeadi Odenigbo leads the Big Ten in sacks with eight, four of them coming in a win at Iowa and two more the following week in a win at Michigan State.

KEY MATCHUPS

ON DEFENSE

Malik Hooker led the Buckeyes with seven tackles and two tackles for loss last week in his return home to Pennsylvania. The secondary gave up too many big plays, though, and Ohio State wasn’t able to add to its season total of 11 interceptions. This will be an even bigger test since Austin Carr is the Big Ten’s leading receiver. He’s made 50 catches for nine TDs and is averaging 102.9 receiving yards per game.

Only once since Urban Meyer took over at Ohio State in 2012 have the Buckeyes lost back-to-back games.

THE SERIES

The Buckeyes hold an overwhelming 60-14-1 edge, including a 32-8 mark in Columbus. OSU has won the last five meetings and 29 of the last 30. Northwestern’s last win in the series was in 1971.

KEYS TO VICTORY

BUCKEYES

Function on offense

The height of dysfunction was last week’s gameplan. Curtis Samuel, tagged by head coach Urban Meyer as the team’s No. 1 playmaker, made the coach look like a genius with his 74-yard TD run. Except that he carried the ball only one other time in the game and didn’t touch the ball until the 24th snap. No. 1 receiver Noah Brown waited even longer, until the 28th snap. If only that were the only game those two seemed like afterthoughts.

Keep Barrett upright

It’s hard enough for quarterback J.T. Barrett to spot receivers if (a big if) they get open. It’s even tougher for him to do so from his back. Last week he was sacked six times, one more time than the previous six games combined. Barrett needs all the time he can get in the pocket because his young receivers have had a hard time getting separation.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Coach: Urban Meyer 56-5 in fith season

Rushing: TB Mike Weber 683 yds. on 115 att., 5.9 avg., 4 TD

Passing: QB J.T. Barrett 124 of 195 for 1,452 yds., .636 pct., 17 TD, 4 INT

Receiving: H-B Curtis Samuel 37 rec. for 471 yards, 12.7 avg., 3 TD

Defense: (Tackles) LB Jerome Baker 43; (Sacks) DE Tyquan Lewis 4, DE Nick Bosa 4; (INT) SAF Malik Hooker 4

WILDCATS

Since an 0-2 start, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald has seen him team win four of its last five and average 38 points during its current three-game winning streak.

Forget second half vs. IU

Before getting shut out in the final two quarters against the Hoosiers last week, Northwestern scored 116 points in its previous 10 quarters. It did it with a nice mix on offense. Wide receiver Austin Carr and running back Justin Jackson are the only teammates in the country to lead their respective conference in receiving yards and rushing yards.

Build on defensive momentum

After winning a wild shootout at Michigan State the week before, 54-40, the Wildcats held Indiana’s offense to one touchdown and 5 of 19 on third down in a 24-14 victory. They twice intercepted quarterback Richard Lagow, who needed 59 passes for his 319 yards.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Coach: Pat Fitzgerald 74-59 in 11th season

Rushing: TB Justin Jackson 792 yds. on 171 att., 4.6 avg., 6 TD

Passing: QB Clayton Thorson 143 of 247 for 1,686 yds., 14 TD, 5 INT

Receiving: WR Austin Carr 50 rec. for 720 yds., 14.4 avg, 9 TD

Defense: (Tackles) SAF Godwin Igwebuike 61; (Sacks) DE Ifeadi Odenigbo 8; (PBU) Igwebuike 6

SCOUTING NO. 6 OHIO STATE

(6-1, 3-1 in the Big Ten East)

Urban Meyer teams, covering 188 games, have lost consecutive games only four times in 15 seasons, and there’s been only one three-game losing streak. His last back-to-back losses: to Michigan State in the 2013 Big Ten Championship Game and then nearly a month later to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. OSU is in the midst of a difficult seven-game stretch in which their opponents are 35-14 collectively. Nebraska and Michigan are both 7-0 and ranked No. 7 and 2, respectively, by the Associated Press. Michigan State, which is 2-2 against OSU in Meyer’s time, is the only opponent without a winning record the rest of the way.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

(4-3, 3-1 in the Big Ten West)

Which Wildcats will the Buckeyes see? The team that had zero points and 37 total yards in the second half last week at home against Indiana? Or the team that rolled up 371 yards in the first half of that 24-14 victory behind three TD passes from Clayton Thorson? Northwestern’s secondary has been decimated by injuries, but NU rides a five-game Big Ten road winning streak into its first visit to Ohio Stadium since 2007. After losing 9-7 to FCS foe Illinois State in early September, the shell-shocked Wildcats, coming off a 10-win season and New Year’s Day bowl appearance, were 0-2. They are 4-1 since, some of the turnaround attributed to an animated team meeting where players were free to speak their mind.