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Ohio State’s season starting to resemble 2014 College Football Playoff run
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We’ve traveled down this path with Ohio State before.
It’s the trail we choose to take whenever the Buckeyes endure any kind of setback. An old, run-down dirt road, heavily wooded with flawed arguments and manipulated statistics. There’s a wobbly, weathered scarlet and gray sign that reads “Dead End” at the end of the lane.
That was the road we chose to venture down after Ohio State’s 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech in Week 2 of the 2014 season. After the loss, the wins piled up, the Buckeyes climbed to the top of the B1G East and pounded Wisconsin in the B1G Championship game. Still, the loss to a subpar Hokies team was a glaring blemish we couldn’t seem to shake.
Did the Buckeyes really deserve a spot in the College Football Playoff? If they lost to Virginia Tech — which finished 7-6 that year — surely they weren’t good enough to compete with the likes of Alabama, Oregon and Florida State.
Eventually, the committee was able to get past the splotch on Ohio State’s resume and gave the B1G champs a bid in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
The rest is history.
Fast forward three years and we’re standing at the edge of that path again, debating whether or not to trek down it. After the Buckeyes dropped another home contest in Week 2 — this time to No. 5 Oklahoma — we’re wondering if Ohio State really has the talent to return to the College Football Playoff. Most of the chatter subsided as the Sooners continued to rack up the wins. But OU’s loss against Iowa State last weekend resurrected the conversation.
Before we start critiquing the Buckeyes for that home loss and how it may have put a damper on the expectations of this season, it might be a good idea to take another look at that 2014 season. After all, history does tend to repeat itself.
In the weeks after that loss to Virginia Tech, Ohio State went on a rampage. In the next four games, the Buckeyes pounded everyone in their path, outscoring opponents 224-93. They hit the 50-point mark in all four contests and won each game by no fewer than three touchdowns.
Those lopsided wins weren’t coming against great competition, but Urban Meyer’s team sent a strong message. Ohio State is sending another one this season.
Side-by-side, the results through the first six games of this season are pretty comparable to the 2014 campaign.
2014 schedule Result 2017 schedule Result vs. Navy W – 34-17 at Indiana W – 49-21 vs. Virginia Tech L – 35-21 vs. No. 5 Oklahoma L – 31-16 vs. Kent State W – 66-0 vs. Army W – 38-7 vs. Cincinnati W – 50-28 vs. UNLV W – 54-21 at Maryland W – 52-24 at Rutgers W – 56-0 vs. Rutgers W – 56-17 vs. Maryland W – 62-14 at Penn State W – 31-24 at Nebraska ???
Since the loss to Oklahoma, Ohio State has won the last four games by an average margin of 42 points. The Buckeyes are jumping out to big leads and not relinquishing any ground. In the first halves of those four games, they’re outscoring opponents 137-21.
Again, these runaway victories aren’t coming against top-of-the-line competition, but beating teams by 40 points or more on a weekly basis shouldn’t be undervalued. The Buckeyes were actually being criticized for playing “sloppy” in their 48-point win over Maryland.
That should speak to the talent level in Columbus.
It’s also important to note how well J.T. Barrett has responded since laying an egg against Oklahoma. The senior threw for just 183 yards and had an interception against the Sooners in Week 2. In the past four games, he’s had 13 touchdown passes and hasn’t thrown an interception while throwing 104 passes.
In the four games after completing just nine passes and throwing three interceptions against Virginia Tech in 2014, Barrett emerged as a Heisman candidate, tossing 17 touchdowns passes with just one interception.
Barrett still has his flaws, but like his freshman season, he’s bounced back from an ugly performance and has reverted back to the quarterback we expected to see this fall.
This weekend might be when we discover if the Buckeyes are really on a trajectory to repeat history. While games against Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan still loom on the schedule, Saturday’s bout against Nebraska resembles Ohio State’s 2014 matchup against the Nittany Lions in a sense.
Ohio State was expected to cruise past a middling Penn State team in James Franklin’s first season. But the night contest in Happy Valley went to double-overtime and the Buckeyes survived by a touchdown to keep their B1G title hopes alive.
Nebraska could present that same challenge on Saturday. While the Huskers have been nothing short of disastrous through the first six weeks of the season, winning a night game in Lincoln is still a tough endeavor — though Wisconsin made it look easy last weekend. Mike Riley’s job will likely be on the line, so there will plenty of emotion on the field at Memorial Stadium. But that could be the proving ground for the Buckeyes.
Obviously, those matchups against Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan are much more important, but we’ll find out how Meyer’s bunch responds to a hostile environment under the lights.
But if we’ve learned anything from history, it tells us Ohio State will be just fine on Saturday.
We don’t need to travel back down that dusty, dead end road to be reminded of that. Just take a look at how the Buckeyes responded to a little adversity in 2014. Now look at what they’ve done since the loss to Oklahoma.
The only difference?
If Ohio State runs the table the rest of the way, there won’t be any debate about whether or not it belongs in the College Football Playoff.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB