DALLAS — The debate over Ohio State’s blackball from the College Football Playoff is moot. The Buckeyes didn’t make it.
However, there is no argument about who was the best team among those left out of the Final Four, not after Friday night’s Cotton Bowl. The fifth-ranked Buckeyes rolled USC 24-7 with a dominant performance from its defensive line and a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race effort by quarterback J.T. Barrett.
“Our defensive line won that game,” Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said. “The best way to disrupt a quarterback is to get after him and we did.”
This was a tale decided by two quarterbacks.
The USC starter, redshirt sophomore Sam Darnold, is a budding superstar who figures to be a top-3 NFL pick if he declares for the draft. The other, fifth-year senior Barrett, is the winningest QB in Ohio State history. In a battle of potential (Darnold) over performance (Barrett), it was no comparison.
“I love (J.T),” Meyer said. “He’s a member of the Meyer family. He’s a legend at Ohio State and he’ll go down as one of the winningest quarterbacks ever to play here.
“He has a home at Ohio State for the rest of his life.”
Darnold is far more heralded, yet Barrett came in with more touchdowns, more touchdown passes, a higher completion percentage and a higher QB rating this season. That statistical advantage was compiled against far better competition, too, and it showed.
Darnold put up some big numbers (356 yards passing) but was clearly bewildered by a relentless pass rush. He coughed up three turnovers, including a 23-yard pick-six by Ohio State safety Damon Webb in the second quarter. That score made it 17-0 and the Trojans never recovered.
“I made a bad read on the Pick-6, I never should’ve thrown it, obviously,” Darnold said. “(Webb) jumped inside of the receiver right after the ball was snapped and I didn’t see him. It was a bad play on my part.”
Barrett made the Trojans pay early and often. The Texas native hit 11-of-17 passes for 117 yards, rushed for 66 yards, scored a pair of touchdowns (one on a 28-yard dash), and most importantly did not have a turnover as the fifth-ranked Buckeyes (12-2) cruised to yet another victory for the Big Ten this bowl season.
The conference has a 5-0 mark after the latest pounding, further bolstering its claim as clearly the best conference in college football — and leading to a chuckle that it was left out of the playoffs.
Had Ohio State merely scheduled Mercer (as Alabama did) instead of Oklahoma for a non-conference test, the Buckeyes would be in the Final Four and the Crimson Tide would’ve washed over the overrated Trojans.
Alas, Meyer was in no mood to cry over spilled milk. He was euphoric that the Buckeyes sent nine fifth-year seniors out on a high note.
“We’ve got the best D-line coach in America and he had them ready to rock and roll,” Meyer said. “If you don’t let (Darnold) set his feet you have a chance and you saw at the end of the game that quarterback never set his feet.”
Darnold has until Jan. 15 to declare for the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Barrett leaves Ohio State with a 38-6 record and a slew of records. He shattered Drew Brees’ conference total offense record with 12,697 yards. He also topped Brees’ Big Ten total TD record earlier this season and finished with 142.
“It’s pretty crazy. I mean, since I was little, I looked up to Drew Brees,” Barrett said. “To be able to pass a record like that, just very grateful the people that were around me, coaches that have been part of my journey.”
Barrett beat an amazing nine top-10 teams in his Ohio State career, by far the most in school history, and was 4-0 vs. Michigan, including a pair of top-10 Wolverine teams.
Meyer is now 73-8 at Ohio State and improves to 11-2 overall in bowl games, tied for the most in the nation with Alabama’s Nick Saban (11-9) and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham (11-1).
Ohio State has won 12 games in five of his six seasons and went 11-2 in the only outlier (last year when he guided the youngest team in the nation to the College Football Playoff). This victory snapped an OSU losing streak to USC that dated to Jan. 1, 1974, when Archie Griffin led the Buckeyes to a 42-21 pounding of the defending national champion Trojans in the Rose Bowl.
“This one is very personal,” Meyer said after his team stopped a seven-game slide to USC. “I’m from Ohio. I’ve been a Buckeye, I think, as long as I’ve been able to say the word “buckeye.”
“So when I hear ‘Hang On Sloopy’ and see the former players and knowing that we in our own little way have done some very good things for this great university, that’s one of those feel-good moments. And, like I said, this one is very personal.”
