On December 6th, 2014, sophomore quarterback Cardale Jones made his first career start at Ohio State, in the Big Ten Championship game against the Badgers of Wisconsin. He was placed into this position due to an injury to the previous starter, true freshman JT Barrett, who suffered a season ending ankle injury in ‘The Game’, against Michigan, a week prior. Cardale would lead the Buckeyes to a flawless 59-0 victory over the Badgers, making his team outright Big Ten champions.
A day later, it was announced (to the disappointment of possibly everyone except Ohioans) that the Ohio State Buckeyes would be one of the four teams invited to the first ever College Football Playoff, and their opponent would be none other than perennial college football juggernaut, the Alabama Crimson Tide, who they’d go on to upset on New Years Day, surprising everyone and solidifying their spot in the National Championship game.
How did Ohio State get so blessed by the college football gods? Let’s go back.
Coming into the 2014-15 football season, The Ohio State Buckeyes were pretty much a shoo-in to make the inaugural 4-team College Football Playoff that would determine this year’s national champion.
Things happened though.
First off, their star quarterback and Heisman hopeful, Braxton Miller was ruled out for the season after undergoing surgery on his shoulder. This would send Buckeye Nation into a frenzy, with some feeling like we had no chance without Miller. Even me; I was definitely shook. I didn’t necessarily feel like Braxton was our team, but having him damn sure gave us as good a chance as anyone. It was on to the next though, and by the next I mean JT Barrett, a true freshman quarterback that hadn’t taken a snap that mattered since high school.
Uh, oh.
Beating Navy in the first game of the year, wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, but we pulled it off, before something rare happened.
On the evening of September 6th, 2014, an unranked and pretty much irrelevant Virginia Tech team would march into a packed Ohio Stadium, with even LeBron James in attendance, and march out with a stunning 35-21 victory. Not only did losing to an unranked team at home (which was previously unheard of) break the hearts of everyone in Columbus, but it also sent the Buckeyes plummeting to damn near the bottom of the Top 25 and most certainly out of playoff contention. Our season was over.
Or was it?
The Buckeyes would go on to get better each week, and JT Barrett would emerge as a star and most certainly a worthy replacement for Braxton Miller. Hell, the kid might even be better than Braxton! And apparently Heisman voters agreed, as JT Barrett was in the conversation, for 80% of the season.
Just like the Buckeyes were getting better, a few teams ahead of them were beginning to lose a couple of steps, some suffering losses, helping Ohio State continue to climb back up the polls. Before you knew it, the Ohio State Buckeyes were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in and on the doorstep of being a contender again.
Bad luck would hit the Buckeyes once again, though.
As previously mentioned, JT Barrett’s Heisman campaign would come to an end after getting hurt against Michigan, and reserve defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge, who had been reported missing, would be found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Buckeyes were now mourning the loss of a teammate, as well as preparing to head into the Big Ten title game with their third string quarterback; Cardale Jones.
Many worried about Cardale, due to some off the field antics, but as stated earlier, he stepped up, got the job done, and now Ohio State is in a position to be national champions.
No matter what happens on January 12th, when Ohio State takes on Oregon, I’m proud of my Buckeyes. We regularly catch a lot of flack from “experts” across the country, who always complain we don’t play anybody, as if we can help it that the Big Ten is a weak conference. They also love to talk about how known we are for getting to the big stage and then choking, which is somewhat valid. However, on January 1st, 2015 in the Sugar Bowl, I’d like to think we shut a lot of people up when we sent Alabama home. Not only did we shine on a big stage, but we beat a more than worthy opponent, in The Crimson Tide; with a third string quarterback!
I believe we have a chance against the Oregon Ducks, but even if we lose, I couldn’t ask for anything more from Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes, this season. We overcame obstacles. We played great football. We shut the doubters up.
Go Bucks!
(photo courtesy of USA Today)
