BIG 10 Champs! Down goes Wisconsin!

 

As the last weekend of the College Football season draws to a close, bowl season is about to begin.  Sadly, that means the season is coming to an end and the dreaded offseason is looming, but for now until next year, we can call our team BIG 10 Champions.

The game began with Ohio State winning the toss and deferring to the 2nd half.  The defense came ready to go with the conference championship up for grabs and forced a punt early in the game.  On the next Badger possession, Denzel Ward turned Hornibrook away in the red zone with an interception on a pass intended for Fumugali.

On the ensuing drive it did not take J.T. Barrett long to respond when he found a wide open Terry McLauring for an 84-yard pass to put the first touchdown on the board.  The lead was short-lived though, after forcing another punt Barrett eyeballed his receiver and did not notice Andrew Van Ginkel lurking underneath before he threw a terrible pass that resulted in a pick six to tie the game at 7-7.

Barrett has uncharacteristically been turning the ball over laterly at an alarming rate.  This has been the story since the Iowa game, and it has turned Buckeye fans against him, but how would he respond?

He responded with another long touchdown pass to Parris Campbell for 57-yards on a screen to put the Buckeyes in the lead position once again.  The Silver Bullets swarmed the offense forcing back to back Wisconsin punts before Barrett punched it in the endzone for a 1-yard score to go up 21-7.

The Wisconsin defense began to take over as they forced a Mike Weber fumble at the Ohio State 11 yard line, which led to a field goal and they blocked a Buckeye attempt to close the half.  This is by far, the best collection of player from a talent standpoint, and it showed.  The Buckeyes went over the Wisconsin average for total defense, 236.9 when they finished the half with 309 total yards.  They have given up 80.5 rushing yards and 156.4 through the air per game, and at the half Ohio State had 127 yards and 182 yards in those two categories respectively, surpassing both averages easily.

The second half began with an Ohio State punt before each team added 3 more points a piece.  A couple of back to back punts later, Barrett threw behind Marcus Baugh and was picked off for the second time this game.  The decision to throw it so late infuriated Buckeye Nation because it led to another Wisconsin touchdown as the Ohio State lead dwindled.

The Buckeye rebounded with another field goal to put them 27-21 before they put it on the defenses shoulders.  The Silver Bullets responded and sealed the game with a late interception on 4th down by Damon Webb to squeak past Wisconsin to become the BIG 10 Champions.  With this win, J.T. Barrett earned his 37th win to become the winningest Buckeye signal caller passing Art Schlichter.

This game, was back and fourth, but it should have been a blowout.  The Buckeyes left a ton of points on the field and Barrett needs to play better and he needs to make better desicions.  This game should have been won easily, but with the turnovers and overthrows, he left a lot more to be desired.  J.K. Dobbins left as the BIG 10 Conference Championship MVP, running roughshod through the top ranked defense in the nation for a total of 174 yards with a 53 and 77 yards runs.

With a conference title and quality wins against #2 Penn State, #4 Wisconsin, and #12 Michigan State, the Buckeyes are in limbo and they will leave it up to the CFB Playoff powers that be.  The blowout loss at Iowa hurts their chances, but for now enjoy the win and the team achievement.  Go Bucks!

Comments

  1. jimmy wiggians says

    Evidently the B1G Championship is not going to mean much to the playoff committee from here out and that’s a change as in 2015 the game enabled a questionable Michigan State team getting in the playoffs. An argument now could be made as to why the OSU defending champs weren’t considered in 2015. That seems to be the biggest problem the committee has to answer for now as MSU’s “body of work” was not impressive enough that year similar in comparison to Alabama’s this year. Does this represents bias?
    Buckeye fans do need to focus now on one fact only, the Buckeye’s haven’t beat the TROJANS IN OVER FORTY YEARS. WOW!

    comments welcome

    • jimmy wiggians says

      The point I was trying to make above was I remember the B1G Championship was touted as a reason MSU got in the 2015 playoffs and now the Bama team with a similar one loss season and similar close games like MSU in 2015 failed even to win their conference and gets in. Maybe I’m wrong in this thinking and would appreciate any comments.

  2. jimmy wiggians says

    Bama went 0-1 against top 15 teams. OSU had 3 wins and 2 were top 10 wins. Bama definitly had the weakest schedule between USC and OSU who both had conference championship wins. Bama sat home all week while their resume sank with Auburn and Fresno losing. A week ago the playoff chairman claimed it was “razor thin” between #5-8. OSU and USC went out and won their conferences with OSU beating the committees #4 unbeaten on a neutral field with a QB just out of surgery. Now the committee chairman has the nerve to say Bama is “unequivocally” is the new #4. WTF Bullshit!
    Bama played nobody and no qualitiy wins with LSU barely in the top 20. USC and OSU should be screaming at the bias in the selection committee. Why the silence?

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