Next Man Up!: Ohio State's Unbelievable 2014 Championship Season

by Columbus Dispatch

Overview

This up-to-the-minute commemorative edition is officially licensed by Ohio State University and featuring stories and photos from the Columbus Dispatch,
 
On January 12, 2015, the Buckeyes secured their first-ever College Football Playoff Championship with a win over Oregon in Arlington, Texas. Featuring unique images and highlights from the championship game and Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, this book captures the team’s path to its first championship since 2002. Taking readers through every exciting moment of this historic campaign, this chronicle of the Buckeyes’ journey highlights the team’s season from overcoming the starting quarterback’s season-ending injury to the memorable wins over Big Ten foes Michigan State and Michigan to the dominating shutout of Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship Game and the glorious moments in New Orleans and Arlington. It includes feature stories on head coach Urban Meyer, the team’s seniors, and other star players—accompanied by vivid photographs every step along the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629370576
Publisher:	Triumph Books
Publication date:	02/01/2015
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.70(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

The Columbus Dispatch has been covering the news in Ohio’s capital city for more than 140 years. Located less than five miles from Ohio Stadium, the Dispatch is the leading authority on Ohio State athletics.

Read an Excerpt

Next Man UP!

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By Benjamin J. Marrison

Triumph Books

Copyright © 2015 The Columbus Dispatch
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62937-057-6

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CHAPTER 1

Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama

January 1, 2015 • New Orleans, Louisiana

Ohio State 42, Alabama 35

Rolling Over the Tide

Elliott Rushes for 230 Yards as OSU Rallies Back From 21-6 Deficit

By Bill Rabinowitz

In the victorious locker room, Ohio State players wore T-shirts that read "WON NOT DONE."

Tyvis Powell clutched the football that he intercepted to clinch the Buckeyes' gripping 42-35 Sugar Bowl victory over top-ranked Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Michael Bennett and Adolphus Washington consented to an interview only if they did it together, such is their bond in the middle of the Ohio State defensive line.

Such is the bond among the entire team, and how necessary it's been for a team that has become the embodiment of resilience.

A team that has lost two star quarterbacks this season, that fell behind 21-6 to the pre-eminent program in college football, that made the ending heart-wrenching after it seemingly had the game in hand, is now a victory over Oregon away from winning the national championship.

The Buckeyes (13-1) will play the Ducks on Jan. 12 in suburban Dallas. Ohio State will be underdogs again. They will not care a whit.

On a day when the Big Ten reasserted its strength with stirring victories by Michigan State and Wisconsin in premier games, Ohio State came through with the biggest.

"That was a sledgehammer game," Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said. "That was a classic."

No one would disagree.

It was a game that had almost everything. Momentum shifts that left one team staggering and then the other. Record-breaking performances. A razzle-dazzle touchdown by Ohio State. Even the punters — Ohio State's Cameron Johnston and Alabama's JK Scott — were worth the hefty price of admission.

The Buckeyes dominated the game statistically in the first half but were thwarted by two turnovers and the inability to score touchdowns twice when they had first-and-goal near the Alabama goal line.

When Alabama converted those turnovers into touchdowns and added another on its one sustained drive of the first half to take a 15-point lead, the Buckeyes looked on the verge of being knocked out.

Instead, Ohio State showed the resolve it has had all year. The Buckeyes scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half. The first came on a 3-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott, who broke the Sugar Bowl rushing record with 230 yards against a defense that had yielded only 88 yards a game on the ground this season.

"(Hall of Fame running back) Barry Sanders said before the game there were two great running backs that were going to play tonight, and they both were for 'Bama," Elliott said. "I felt a little bit left out."

The second TD came on some trickery. Jalin Marshall took the handoff from quarterback Cardale Jones and gave it to Evan Spencer. The wide receiver then threw to tightly covered Michael Thomas, who leaped and barely kept his foot inbounds for a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the half.

The Buckeyes continued their momentum to start the second half. Jones, who had been shaky early in his second career start, connected on a 47-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith to put Ohio State ahead for the first time since it led 3-0.

Then defensive end Steve Miller made the biggest defensive play of the game. He dropped back in coverage, read the eyes of Alabama quarterback Blake Sims, made the easy interception and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.

But Alabama hasn't been the country's dominant team in recent years for no reason. Derrick Henry caught a middle screen and ran for a 52-yard score. Four plays later, Sims ran for a 5-yard touchdown.

Ohio State's offense, saddled by terrible field position all game because of Scott's punts, had done little since early in the third quarter. When the Buckeyes got the ball with four minutes left, they were in desperate need of a big play. They got it. Elliott found a hole opened by blocks from Spencer and left guard Billy Price and ran for an 85-yard touchdown.

Up 14 with 3:24 left after Smith caught a two-point conversion pass, the Buckeyes should have felt secure.

Nope.

Alabama needed only 77 seconds to score with star receiver Amari Cooper catching his second touchdown pass of the game.

When Spencer recovered the onside kick, Ohio State should have felt secure with Alabama having only two timeouts.

Nope.

Meyer called for a deep pass to Spencer that fell incomplete.

"It was my call to throw it down the field," Meyer said, explaining that Alabama stacked the line and was vulnerable deep. "Maybe it wasn't the right call. So I just kept thinking I screwed this up."

The Buckeyes punted, giving Alabama one last chance. The Crimson Tide moved the ball to the OSU 42 with 8 seconds left. Sims threw a Hail Mary into the end zone, and Powell intercepted the pass to clinch it.

"You have to congratulate Ohio State, who played a really, really good game, and we probably didn't play our best game," said Alabama coach Nick Saban.

Meyer wouldn't necessarily agree with that assessment.

"This is one of the great team wins we've been a part of," he said, "because we didn't play well at times but found a way to win."

CHAPTER 2

College Football Playoff National Championship vs. Oregon

January 12, 2015 • Arlington, Texas

Ohio State 42, Oregon 20

Playoff Payoff!

Elliott Runs for Four Touchdowns; Defense Answers Challenge

By Bill Rabinowitz

Say it slowly and let it sink in. It really happened. You aren't dreaming.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, counted out so many times this season, are the kings of college football.

This resilient 2014 team, a combination of 1968 youth and 2002 grit, overcame four turnovers to roll over Oregon 42-20 in the championship game of the inaugural College Football Playoff at AT&T Stadium.

Counted out after losing Braxton Miller before the season and falling to Virginia Tech in their second game, the Buckeyes (14-1) won their sixth national championship in school history in front of a mostly Ohio State crowd of 85,609.

The national title is the third for Urban Meyer, who won two at Florida and now has brought one to his home state.

"We finished the year a great team," Meyer said. "To have four turnovers and still beat a team like that 42-20, incredible experience. I don't want to get overdramatic, but it's as improved a football team (as I've seen) — and I've watched for a long time — from Game 1 to Game 15. I've never seen anything like it."

Sophomore Ezekiel Elliott continued his stunning late-season run by weaving and powering for 246 yards and four touchdowns behind an offensive line that punished Oregon to earn MVP honors.

"A monster," Meyer said.

One-time third-string quarterback Cardale Jones was nearly flawless, throwing for 242 yards and a touchdown and repeatedly using his 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame to bull for key first downs.

The defense, which many expected to wilt under the pressure of stopping Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota's orchestration of Oregon's turbo-paced offense, was stout after a bad start. The 20 points were the fewest the Ducks scored all season.

"We just had to settle down and adjust to their tempo," co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash said. "You can't simulate that in practice."

Ohio State led 21-10 at halftime, but that lead was threatened when the turnover bug that began in the first half flared up again. Oregon (13-2) intercepted a pass that glanced off Jalin Marshall. On the next play, Mariota threw deep to Byron Marshall, who was wide open for a 70-yard touchdown.

Oregon looked poised to regain the lead when Jones fumbled while starting to throw under duress and lost the ball at the Buckeyes' 23. Oregon got it to the 6 before Eli Apple prevented a touchdown catch by Evan Baylis by pushing the tight end out of the end zone before he could get his feet down. Oregon's field goal made it 21-20.

That was as close as the Ducks would get as Elliott and the offensive line took over. The Buckeyes answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive with Elliott doing most of the heavy lifting, finally scoring on a 9-yard carry.

Ohio State made it 35-20 with just under 10 minutes left on a similar drive, and Ohio State's defense prevented Mariota from providing any late magic.

"We knew that our O-line was bigger and more physical than their D- line," Elliott said, "and we just had to punch them in the mouth. They played their butts off, and they paved the way for me."

Ohio State led 21-10 at halftime after 30 minutes in which both teams had reason to wonder what-if.

The Buckeyes didn't even force Oregon into facing third down on the game's opening possession, a 75-yard touchdown drive. But then the Ducks dropped third-down passes on their next two possessions. On the second, Dwayne Stanford was alone behind the Buckeyes' defense.

After a slow start, Ohio State's offense started rolling. Elliott weaved for a 33-yard touchdown to cap a 97-yard drive to tie the score. Then his thumping 17-yard run set up Nick Vannett's 1-yard touchdown catch to put the Buckeyes ahead 14-7.

But it could have been a bigger margin. Two turnovers — a botched exchange between Jones and Elliott and a fumble by Corey Smith after a 50-yard reception — kept the Buckeyes from completely seizing control. The Smith fumble came after a goal-line stand by Ohio State's defense.

The Buckeyes made it 21-7 with just under five minutes left in the second quarter. Three plays after Devin Smith caught a 47-yard pass to the Oregon five on third-and-12, Jones scored on a sneak.

Oregon would make it a game, but the Buckeyes did what they did all year — answer the challenge.

"We've been faced with adversity all year long, on the field and off the field," tight end Jeff Heuerman said. "Those turnovers were just another example of adversity we had to overcome. It's truly special. It's the best feeling I've ever had."

It's one that Jones, in particular, couldn't have imagined when he was buried on the depth chart behind Miller and J.T. Barrett.

"Going back to camp in August, everybody counted us out when our Heisman Trophy quarterback went down," Jones said. "Then when the first College Football Playoff rankings came out, we were No. 16. Long story short, we weren't supposed to be here.

"All the odds were stacked against us through the whole season, and for us to be sitting here as national champs, it not only means a lot to me, but our community, Buckeye Nation and our hometowns."

As the confetti fell around him, center Jacoby Boren soaked it in.

"I'm speechless," he said. "We're national champions. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Given how young this team is, don't be so sure.

CHAPTER 3

Elliott Rushes to Offensive MVP Honors

Running Back Carries for 246 Yards to Pace Buckeyes

By Tim May

Ezekiel Elliott took a few tentative steps at the start of the College Football Playoff championship game.

But once the Ohio State running back got it going, he did so in a big way, with his 246 yards and four touchdowns rushing leading the way in Ohio State's 42-20 win over Oregon.

Elliott was named offensive most valuable player for his effort, which included a career-high 36 carries and touchdown runs of 33, 9, 2 and 1 yards.

OSU safety Tyvis Powell was named defensive MVP after a performance in which he had nine tackles and broke up a pass.

Besides lifting Ohio State to its sixth national title, Elliott launched himself into second place on the list of best rushing seasons at OSU.

He finished his sophomore season with 1,878 yards, just shy of Eddie George's record of 1,927 yards, set in 1995. Elliott entered the game in fourth place on the single-season list but passed Archie Griffin (1,695 in 1974) and Keith Byars (1,764 in 1984) along the way.

Elliott racked up his total in 15 games, while George played 13 games in 1995, and Griffin and Byars played in 12 games in '74 and '84, respectively.

Despite the extra games, Elliott's strong finish to the 2014 season was as impressive as any running back's in school history as the St. Louis native gained 924 yards in the Buckeyes' final five games.

"You got to credit 'the slobs,' because they're the ones that pave the way," Elliott said, referring to the nickname for the offensive linemen led by guards Pat Elflein and Billy Price.

Elliott and the offense were slow out of the gate, but his 33-yard touchdown run at 4:36 of the first quarter woke up the Buckeyes, and the OSU-dominant crowd of 85,689 at AT&T Stadium got into it in a loud way.

George, his record safe for at least another year, said it was obvious that Elliott and the Buckeyes were coming on down the stretch.

"The way this offensive line has meshed and jelled is fantastic," George said.

George laughed when asked how many yards he might have gained in his Heisman Trophy-winning season of 1995 if he had been able to play 15 games rather than 13.

"I sat out the second or a lot of the second half in quite a few of those games," George said. "I definitely would have gotten over 2,000."

With the Buckeyes and Ducks playing 15 games in the longest season in major-college football history, George said it was a lot to ask for a college team and running back. As he met with players during the days before the game, he came away with a general feeling that some players were being worn down a bit — "running on fumes," as he put it.

But Elliott had plenty of gas for the Buckeyes' biggest games of the year. He rushed for 220 yards against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, 230 against Alabama in the national playoff semifinal in the Sugar Bowl and 246 against Oregon.

"Everybody does their job, and nothing would be possible without that team effort," Elliott said. "The O-line, they came out, they played their butts off and they paved the way for me. ... I feel blessed."

The performance drew raves from Elliott's teammates and coaches.

"Wow. Wow," Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton said. "The passion you see with this kid running the football, it's all about his teammates, it's not about him ... and I love him to death for that. He is a selfless kid."

OSU coach Urban Meyer, meanwhile, referred to Elliott as "the most underrated back in America."

"He's one of the best post-contact yard guys I've ever been around, and on top of that he's a great human being."

CHAPTER 4

J.T. Barrett

Quarterback | 16

Barrett's Life Story Revolves Around Dogged Determination

By Bill Rabinowitz • August 30, 2014

Aperson's life can be measured in numbers, but it is revealed in stories.

And oh, the stories that those who know him best like to tell about J.T. Barrett, Ohio State's new starting quarterback.

Let's start with one from the first year Barrett played football.

Joe Barrett can tell you about that. His son — formally named Joe Thomas Barrett IV — announced his football ambition almost from the start. J.T., the middle of Joe and Stacy Barrett's three sons, was about 6.

He was wearing his football helmet and holding a ball in the Barretts' home in Wichita Falls, Texas, when he made a declaration.

"He said, 'This is what I want to do,'" Joe recalled. "He said we're not going to have to pay for his education because this here is what he wants to do. We just laughed at him. We looked at him like he was a little crazy. I said, 'OK, son.'"

The Barretts' skepticism was understandable. Football wasn't really in J.T.'s genes. Joe played basketball and ran track as a kid in Buna, Texas.

"I've never played a lick of football in my life," he said.

Stacy, now a nurse, also was an athlete. Joe said J.T. gets his competitiveness from her.

"Me, I'm competitive, but not to that extreme," he said.

J.T. excelled at football right away. He was a two-way star, with running back his main position on offense. But in fifth grade, after a summer of eating too much, J.T. was 15 pounds above the weight limit for his youth football league. He could play defense, but unless he dropped the weight, he wouldn't be able to carry the ball on offense.

Joe, an electronics technician who has served 28 years in the Army Reserve, is an early riser by nature. So J.T. had a solution.

He begged his father to wake him at 5 a.m. and take him to the gym to work off the weight.

"I was like, 'Oh, my Lord,' but he would get up so he would get that weight off," Stacy Barrett said. "That's his determination. He lost the weight."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Next Man UP! by Benjamin J. Marrison. Copyright © 2015 The Columbus Dispatch. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction By Ben Marrison,
Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama,
College Football Playoff National Championship vs. Oregon,
Elliott Rushes to Offensive MVP Honors,
J.T. Barrett,
Ohio State vs. Navy,
Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech,
Ohio State vs. Kent State,
Urban Meyer,
Ohio State vs. Cincinnati,
Ohio State vs. Maryland,
Michael Bennett,
Ohio State vs. Rutgers,
Ohio State vs. Penn State,
Evan Spencer,
Ohio State vs. Illinois,
Ohio State vs. Michigan State,
Joey Bosa,
Ohio State vs. Minnesota,
Ohio State vs. Indiana,
Senior Class,
Ohio State vs. Michigan,
Missing OSU Player Found Dead,
Ezekiel Elliott,
Big Ten Championship Game vs. Wisconsin,