Buckeye Nation needs to embrace “bad” win

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Cover photo: Former head coach Urban Meyer holds up the national championship crystal football awarded by the Amway Coaches poll in a celebration in Ohio Stadium on Jan. 24, 2015. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.

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After Super Bowl XVIII, the Los Angeles Raiders had just pulled off a 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins, who were the reigning champs. After the game, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle first recognized the losers of the contest then went on to congratulate the winners.

Al Davis took that as a slight and publicly said for the first time a quote that still goes down today as one of the greatest in sports history: “Just win, baby.”

Words Buckeye fans should live by right now.

After their gritty, knee knocking, sloppy 21-7 win over Northwestern (1-8, 1-5 Big Ten) on Saturday, there were the usual grumblings from disgruntled fans on social media who felt No. 2 Ohio State’s two touchdown victory wasn’t good enough.

In a way, it’s understandable. Despite battling a semi-cold, rainy day featuring winds in the 20 mile per hour range, the Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0) looked overly sluggish and uninspired to take on the conference’s worst team. 

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, OSU had finished playing the worst game offensively ever under head coach Ryan Day with 283 total yards, two yards less than the Wildcats.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud had a miserable day, completing a career low 38 percent of his passes for a career-low 76 yards, which are the lowest through the air since J. T. Barrett’s 46-yard performance in a 17-14 home loss to Michigan State in 2015. Stroud was also held to no passing touchdowns for the first time in his career.

Ohio State also had a rough time putting together any sort of rushing attack in the first half against the country’s 110th-ranked rushing defense as the Wildcats were controlling the line of scrimmage and held the Buckeyes to 72 yards rushing in the first 30 minutes.

Northwestern also posted the first score of the game and led 7-0 after the first 15 minutes of play. It was the first time all season Ohio State not only trailed at the end of the first quarter but were also held scoreless.

The Buckeyes also failed to convert a single third down in the half, going 0-of-8, which was the first time all year a team held them to zero third down conversions. Punter Jesse Mirco had five punts in the first half, whereas they hadn’t had a five-punt game since the national championship against Alabama two years ago.

Ultimately, OSU would outscore NW 14-0 in the last 30 minutes and fared better on third down at 4-of-7 but the scoreboard didn’t truly tell the difficulty they had trying to string together some sort of cohesion on offense. They outgained the Wildcats in total yards for the second stanza, 165-145 - including a 135-97 rushing edge, but NW quarterback Brendan Sullivan still outmatched his Heisman hopeful counterpart by going 10-of-14 for 79 yards.

So where is the silver lining in all of this? Why should Buckeye Nation embrace this “bad” win as something “good”?

Well, Stroud finally broke out of his “that’s not my job” running-the-football-shell for a career-high 79 yards which included a 44-yarder late in the game that set up running back Miyan Williams’ second TD run to secure the win. Williams ended the game with 111 yards for the third 100-yard game of his career, helping OSU rush for 207, which was 15 more yards than their 191-yard average.

Even with an exasperatingly low 38 completion percentage, Stroud didn’t turn over the ball, which is saying something considering the crazy winds he was throwing into. And he still leads the country in passing efficiency (185.8), which is exactly four points higher than North Carolina’s Drake Maye, and still sits No. 2 in passing touchdowns with 29.

As it stands now, though, the Scarlet and Gray are still in charge of their own destiny more than ever when three teams in the top 6 of the college football playoff rankings lost on Saturday night.

Of course, we knew at least one team was going to lose as undefeated, No. 1 Tennessee was visiting unbeaten, No. 3 Georgia. Obviously, one of those two were going down.

But the country received a jolt when unranked, 5-3 Notre Dame shellacked undefeated, No. 4 Clemson in South Bend, 35-14.

Right after that, another (somewhat) shocker occurred when 7-2, No. 10 LSU knocked off 8-1, No. 6 Alabama, 32-31, by going for two (and getting it) in the game’s first overtime.

Now there are only four undefeated teams left, two of them being in the same conference. And those two play each other at the end of the year: No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan.

It’s almost a certainty that the Wolverines will find themselves in the top four after the two teams sandwiching them in the rankings lost. The only question is, will the committee put them at No. 3 or No. 4?

The committee loves the SEC and we’ve seen them more than once put in a one-loss, non-champion into the playoff.

So do they drop the Volunteers only two spots after their 27-13 loss in Athens or three spots seeing as how Michigan is undefeated and Tennessee isn’t?

Or do they drop the Vols even further and boost a team like TCU into the top four considering they’re the fourth undefeated team?

Whatever the conclusion to those questions might be, it still remains that the Buckeyes are squarely in charge of their own fate. All they have to do is win, regardless of how repugnant the W may look, and it’s non-argumentative that an undefeated Big Ten champion will represent the conference in the playoff.

Saturday’s wobbly win against the woeful Wildcats brought back memories of close calls Ohio State had during their last two national title runs.

So let's have fun and take a look back at some of the brow beaters the Buckeyes endured in those seasons.

In the season opener against Navy, the fifth-ranked Buckeyes trailed the Midshipmen 7-6 at the half and were barely outgaining them 162-155. Just inside the fourth quarter, the two were still slugging it out with OSU barely ahead, 20-17. But they would post two touchdowns and hold Navy scoreless from that point on for a 34-17 win.

The next weekend, Ohio State would lose by two touchdowns to a Virginia Tech team that finished the season 7-6.

One game most of you can surely recall was the double-overtime thriller in Happy Valley against an unranked 4-3 Penn State team that was 1-3 in the conference.

OSU jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead but the Nittany Lions locked down for the next 30 minutes and picked off Barrett twice, both by linebacker Mike Hull, including one for a 40-yard score. Kicker Sam Ficken would send it into OT with a 31-yard field goal with nine seconds left.

After trading touchdowns in the first OT, the Buckeyes took a 31-24 lead in the second extra set. And it was defensive end Joey Bosa who iced the victory after bull rushing running back Akeel Lynch’s feeble block straight into quarterback Christian Hackenberg for the game-ending sack.

Three weeks later, Ohio State faced a little bit more of a formidable opponent when they visited No. 25 Minnesota, who were 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference. The Buckeyes were still a heavy favorite despite the 15 degree temperature.

The Buckeyes took a 14-0 first quarter lead, which included Barrett’s 86-yard TD run - the third-longest rush in OSU history, but found themselves with their backs against the wall when Gopher running back David Cobb busted off a 30-yard TD run, his second rushing score of the half. Kicker Sean Nuernberger would put the Scarlet and Gray up by three, 17-14, to end the half.

With 10 minutes to go in the game, it appeared in the bag for the Buckeyes as they held a 31-14 lead but the Gophers would make it interesting by scoring the next 10 points. Ohio State recovered the ensuing onside kick and fortunately for them, Minny was out of timeouts so the Buckeyes downed the ball the next two plays to preserve the 31-24 victory.

How about their home game on a sunny Saturday the following weekend against Indiana? Ohio State welcomed in a Hoosiers squad who were 3-8 overall and winless in the conference. After jumping out to an early 14-0 first quarter lead, the Buckeyes clung to a 14-13 edge at the end of the first half thanks to three turnovers.

Then halfway through the third quarter, the lowly Hoosiers did the improbable by taking a 20-14 lead after running back Tevin Coleman ripped off an untouched, 90-yard touchdown run, which still stands as the second-longest rush in IU history.

The Buckeyes would counter back with 28 unanswered points and led 42-20 with under three minutes to play but still gave up one more explosion from Coleman on a 52-yard run to the house with a little over a minute to play.

The very next weekend, Ohio State welcomed into the Horseshoe “you-know-who” for the regular season-ending capper. The Wolverines were staring down their first losing season in five years and entered The Game at 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

The Scarlet and Gray started off hot by picking off Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner on the second play of the game and Barrett would find tight end Nick Vannett for a seven-yard strike six plays later to take an early 7-0 lead. 

However, the Wolverines held the Buckeyes to 28 total yards on the next three straight drives while punching it into the end zone twice and midway through the second quarter, the Maize and Blue were on top, 14-7. Ohio State wouldn’t answer back until Barrett’s 25-yard TD run with under a minute left in the half and two were tied at 14’s going into the locker room.

The two teams traded blows in the third quarter as Barrett scored on a two-yard run on the second half opening drive and Michigan knotted it up 12 plays later on running back Drake Johnson’s four-yard run midway through the third quarter.

The Buckeyes scored 21 unanswered points after that but the real storyline was Barrett suffering a broken leg on the first play of the fourth quarter. The injury ultimately put him out for the rest of the season and as we all remember, third-stringer Cardale Jones entered for the remainder of the game on the way to etching his name in Buckeye history.

Jones was under center for OSU’s last two scores.

The Wolverines would finally get back into the end zone for their fourth TD of the day but it was a little too late with barely over a minute left in the game and that was all she wrote in the Buckeyes’ 42-28 win.

And finally, there was the semifinal of the playoff.

Ohio State got in as the No. 4 seed which meant they had to play the No. 1 team in the country: Alabama.

The Buckeyes had one win over an SEC team in a bowl game, which came against Arkansas in the 2011 Sugar Bowl. However, due to the Tattoo Gate scandal that year, all wins were wiped off the books. So technically, never before had the Buckeyes beaten an SEC team in a bowl game and this was the chance to finally break the streak.

After the Buckeyes’ first drive resulted in a field goal for a 3-0 lead, Bama took advantage of running back Ezekiel Elliott’s fumble on OSU’s second drive and quickly answered with a 25-yard Derrick Henry touchdown run with over nine minutes left in the first quarter. The following possession stalled for OSU which led to a second Nuernberger field goal in the first quarter to make it 7-6 Crimson Tide.

However, Bama would rip off two straight touchdowns to take a 21-6 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half. The Buckeyes would finally get their offensive act together by scoring two straight touchdowns of their own, including one of the most memorable in OSU history when they ran a reverse pass from receiver Evan Spencer to fellow receiver Michael Thomas where Thomas’ toe came within millimeters of the side edgeline of the end zone. But he was able to plant his heel inbounds for a 13-yd TD with 12 seconds left in the half and the Tide’s 15-point lead was now down to one.

Ohio State would open the second half with the ball and their third touchdown when Jones hit receiver Devin Smith on a 47-yard bomb and had their first lead of the night, 27-21. The Buckeyes extended the lead, 34-21, three drives later when defensive end Steve Miller had a 41-yard pick-six with a little over three minutes left in the third. Bama countered on the following possession to make it 34-28 with a minute to go in the third.

Things were still tight throughout the final quarter as they parried each others’ punches including OSU getting their second pick of the game which came from safety Vonn Bell when Bama was threatening at the Buckeyes’ goal line. OSU couldn’t do anything with the turnover, but after another Tide punt came Elliott’s infamous “85 yards through the heart of the south” touchdown run with 3:24 to play. The Buckeyes got the two-point conversion and had a 42-28 lead. Bama once again countered on the following possession on another Sims-to-Cooper hookup with 1:59 left to make it 42-35.

The game still wasn’t officially in the books as Bama corralled the Buckeyes for a negative 11-yard drive after that and got the ball back on their own 18 with 1:33 remaining.

Sims got them to the OSU 42 but out of timeouts and facing a third-and-2, the Crimson Tide went for broke and called a Hail Mary which was intercepted in the end zone by safety Tyvis Powell to clinch Ohio State’s first-ever bowl win over an SEC opponent.

After that, the rest, as they say, was history as the Buckeyes went on to beat No. 2 Oregon, 42-20, to secure their eighth national championship.

Those were just instances from the ‘14 season.

Remember 2002 and some of those close ones? The fourth game of the season saw Ohio State hit the road against 1-1 Cincinnati in Paul Brown Stadium. The Buckeyes trailed for a majority of the game and took only their second lead with under four minutes to play. If it weren’t for a Will Allen interception at OSU’s goal line on 4th & 10 with 26 seconds left to play, their season could’ve been over right there. Instead, it guaranteed a 23-19 victory.

Do you recall the hand-wringer in Evanston where freshman phenom running back Maurice Clarett fumbled three times but Ohio State still hung on to pull out an 11-point win over a 2-3 Northwestern team that was winless in the conference? Or how about the defensive donnybrook at Wisconsin where the Buckeyes trailed the 5-2 Badgers, who were winless in the Big Ten, for the entire second half? After taking a 19-14 lead with nine and change remaining, the Silver Bullets had to fend off the pesky Badgers to secure the five-point win.

Then there was another defensive stalwart the very next weekend at home against 5-2 Penn State who were 2-2 in the Big Ten. Ohio State’s only touchdown of the game came from Chris Gamble’s 40-yard pick-six at the start of the second half and would prove to be the deciding factor for a 13-7 victory.

Of course, no one can forget “Holy Buckeye” two weeks later in West Lafayette, Ind. against 4-5 Purdue. OSU’s offense was once again non-existent and if it weren’t for quarterback Craig Krenzel’s 37-yard prayer to receiver Michael Jenkins on 4th & 1 for a touchdown with 1:37 to play, the Buckeyes would’ve lost, 6-3.

Some may forget an even crazier game the very next weekend in Champaign, Ill. where the Scarlet and Gray had to go extras against 4-6 Illinois. OSU kicker Mike Nugent and Illini kicker John Gockman traded kicks all game long with three field goals apiece as each offense only mustered one touchdown in regulation. Gockman nailed a 48-yarder as time expired to take it into overtime.

Running back Maurice Hall, who along with Lydell Ross were replacing an injured Clarett for the entire game, scored on the opening OT possession to give OSU a 23-16 lead. The Bullets were then able to stave off the Illini on 4th & 8 on the nine yard line to stay undefeated.

And then there was the classic slugfest the following Saturday with The Team Up North. Both defenses came to play and after the first 30 minutes, ninth-ranked Michigan held a 9-7 lead. With under five minutes left, Hall gave OSU a 14-9 lead when he took a short-side of the field option pitch from Krenzel and darted into the near corner of the end zone for a three-yard score.

After both teams traded punts, there were still 58 seconds left on the clock. Wolverines’ quarterback John Navarre engineered an 11-play drive, that included an 11-yard completion on 4th & 10, to get them down to the OSU 24 with only one tick of the clock remaining. On play 12, Will Allen repeated what he did against Cincinnati and picked off Navarre at the goal line to secure the win and a berth in the national title game.

And who can forget that one? It’s probably the craziest national championship to have ever been played as the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes were the reigning champs and riding an NCAA-best 33-game win streak.

But the Silver Bullets had come to play and forced Miami’s prolific offense into committing five turnovers. However, Hurricanes kicker Todd Sievers knocked down a 40-yarder with time expiring to take it into OT.

Both teams scored touchdowns in the first extra inning and after Clarett’s 5-yard slither up the middle to give OSU a 31-24 lead, linebacker Matt Wilhelm forced quarterback Ken Dorsey to chuck an errant pass on 4th & goal from the 1 that was batted down by linebacker Cie Grant and the Buckeyes had pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all time.

So let’s relax, Buckeye fans. They’ve been there before, they can do it again.

Buckeye Nation just has to keep the faith that their beloved Scarlet and Gray will continue to get the job done and appreciate that at the end of the day, a W looks much better than an L, no matter how grotesque the W appears.