Ohio State shows flaws, but path to the title still goes through Michigan
Ohio State’s path to the College Football Playoff just got a whole lot tougher — but in the end, it still goes through Michigan.
That is, if the Buckeyes can fix some of the major red flags that popped up Saturday night.
Not only did the Buckeyes suffer their first loss — at Penn State, for their first true road loss under coach Urban Meyer — they did it in a particularly odd way, considering the teams and offensive firepower that have been synonymous with Meyer’s teams in recent years.
In short, the Buckeyes offensive line could not control the line of scrimmage. In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Ohio State’s line could not protect quarterback J.T. Barrett long enough to give him time to make reads and the right passes. Almost every snap, he was pressured, hurried and/or sacked.
That’s not how you win a game on the road against an aggressive and increasingly confident defense. That’s also not how you mount a final-minute comeback after suffering a special teams disaster — a blocked field goal returned by Penn State for the go-ahead score.
Penn State knocks off No. 2 Ohio State 24-21
Part of the reason the Nittany Lions’ defensive line could get so much pressure on Barrett had to do, simply, with Ohio State’s glaring offensive weakness: Its vertical passing game. Though Barrett has shown on occasion he can throw a beautiful deep ball, he hasn’t done it often this season. And ever since his performance against Indiana — 9-for-21 for 93 yards — opposing coaches have realized out that the best way to try to beat Ohio State is to make Barrett and the offense as one-dimensional as you can.
That’s not to say Barrett was dreadful through the air on Saturday. In fact, he was 28-for-42 for 245 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. But the problems with the passing game showed up at the worst possible time — the fourth quarter. Barrett completed just one pass longer than 15 yards in the entire quarter, opting instead for short passes mixed in with the run game. Sometimes, Barrett couldn’t even get his pass off, and was forced to scramble; in the final quarter, he carried the ball just three times for positive yardage (for seven combined rushing yards) before being sacked twice, for losses of 13 and six yards to end the game.
That’s not the kind of offense and certainly not the kind of offensive line Meyer is used to seeing with his team, which has now been on the ropes twice in the past two weeks.
College football's Week 8 winners and losers
The Buckeyes eked out a win in overtime against Wisconsin a week ago — in a game in which the normally staunch Ohio State defense looked repeatedly flustered by Wisconsin’s athleticism and jet sweeps — and then fell to Penn State by losing the battle at the line of scrimmage. It’s strange to see the Buckeyes playing like this, and it’s concerning considering there’s only a month left of the regular season.
So, what does this mean for Ohio State’s College Football Playoff chances? Well, it’s complicated.
► Ohio State can win out, which would include a win against currently unbeaten Michigan to close out the regular season
► If Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State end the season with one Big Ten East loss (Ohio State to Penn State, Penn State to Michigan and Michigan to Ohio State), there’s a very complicated tiebreaker procedure to determine which of the three teams would go to the Big Ten championship game. But based on the criteria, It appears that Penn State's nonconference loss to Pittsburgh would knock the Nittany Lions out of contention, and the winner of Michigan-Ohio State (Nov. 26 in Columbus, Ohio) would play in the Big Ten title game.
►If Penn State wins out and Michigan loses twice, it doesn't matter what Ohio State does. Penn State would go to the title game.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 8
