By Anthony Ventura | West Virginia University
PRESEASON
Braxton Miller, the quarterback at Ohio State, was all anyone knew for a while. Since week 4 of the 2011 season, Miller had been THE guy at Ohio State. He was injured in the Clemson game the year before and reinjured again in fall camp. Ohio State was originally a 10/1 shot to win the whole she-bang, but after it was announced Miller would be out for the entire season, those odds plummeted fast.
WEEK 2: THE LOSS
Virginia Tech, really? No disrespect meant to the Hokies or Virginia Tech University, but they haven’t been relevant in football since good ol’ Mike Vick. THE Ohio State University football team doesn’t lose to subpar competition. They shouldn’t lose to a perennially average Virginia Tech team, and they definitely shouldn’t get dominated by them. New starter J.T Barrett, behind almost a completely new offensive line, threw three interceptions, and went 9-29 in passing on the way to a brutally disgusting loss. After this loss, everyone said the Big Ten was eliminated from the first ever College Football Playoff.
THE TURNAROUND
After the Virginia Tech loss, Ohio State rebounded and won six games in a row. Some were blowouts (Kent State) and some were grind it out wins (double OT vs Penn State), but they never really had that stunner win. Ohio State sat at #14 in the CFP ranking up in East Lansing against the brutal defense lead by head coach Mark Dantonio and #8 Michigan State. Barrett had a coming-of-age of sorts and had an outstanding game on the road in a 49-37 upset win in which he threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 more. The win catapulted the Buckeyes straight back into title contention going forward.
THE INJURY BUG HITS COLUMBUS AGAIN
Ohio State won a couple more games and sat at #6 in the last week of the regular season against a stunningly average 5-7 squad from “The Team Up North.” In the 3rd quarter, up 28-21, Barrett scrambled and fell awkwardly. It is one of those moments that, as a fan, you remember your thoughts as it happened. I remember everything about that moment, I was in Myrtle Beach, watching the game on ESPN, and I basically stopped in my tracks and went “Oh crap, we are screwed.” I thought there was no way back-up Cardale Jones could get us that victory. Barrett got carted off the field, unable to walk. A couple plays later, Ezekiel Elliott had a touchdown run to extend the lead and the new third-string quarterback led the Buckeyes to victory.
TRAGEDY STRIKES
A walk on practice squad member from the Ohio State wrestling team, Kosta Karageorge was loved by his teammates for always giving 110%. He never got his shining moment on the field unfortunately, but he got his shining moment with the team. The Ohio State wrestling team won the next championship after his death as well, helping to honor him furthermore. He went missing in the Columbus area, and unfortunately was found days later dead in a dumpster. Defensive tackle Michael Bennett honored Kosta by wearing his number 53 in the postseason that year and had some of his best career games in that jersey. Though this was a tragic turn of events, it was something that the team could rally behind to further fuel their push towards the playoff, and hopefully the national championship.
POSTSEASON
After the losses of Braxton Miller and J.T Barrett to injury and the tragic death of Kosta Karageorge, it seemed unlikely that Ohio State would be successful in the postseason. They sat at #6 in the penultimate CFP rankings going into the Big Ten Championship against Melvin Gordon and Wisconsin, a game that I was at. Cardale Jones, along with 220 rushing yards from Ezekiel Elliott, dominated Wisconsin 59-0 and barely squeaked into the playoff, sitting at #4. They faced off against Nick Saban and #1 seeded Alabama. Elliott again went off, showing how clutch he is, with 230 rushing yards and the defense clamped down on Alabama and the Buckeyes pulled off the 42-35 upset victory, proving that they did belong in the four-team playoff. In the national championship game, driven by doubt, they crushed Oregon 42-20 behind 246 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns from the unquestioned postseason MVP, Ezekiel Elliott, and the Ohio State Buckeyes, in one of the craziest, most up-and-down, and least expected championship seasons.