Behind The Box Score

On a day where the Ohio State offense had Terrelle Pryor complete 82% of his passes, Brandon Saine and Boom Herron both rush for a combined 200 yards and a backup quarterback making his first career start in a stadium ten times the size of his hometown, many would think the Buckeyes would roll. This was the opposite today as it took an overtime goal, I mean field goal from the former MLS pro Devin Barclay in a game where Ohio State defeated #10 Iowa 27-24 in front of 105,455 frantic fans.

Already without the effective Aaron Pettrey at kicker, many thought Ohio State wouldn’t need Barclay, as with just over 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes led the Hawkeyes by two touchdowns, 24-10. Everything including myself, with exceptions to Kaeli Parcel, thought the Buckeyes had the victory and the Rose Bowl in the bag. But with College Football, anything can happen. And anything and everything did happen, as after a 49 yard touchdown run by Boom Herron put the Buckeyes ahead two scores, the Hawkeyes struck back, with a 99 yard kick return coming at the legs of Darrell Johnson-Koulianos.

 Good teams play good football in the clutch and Kirk Ferentz’s squad did just that, stopping the Buckeyes on their next possession and with all of Hawkeye nation riding on his shoulders, fill in Ryan Vandenburg conducted a near perfect drive capping it off with a ten yard strike to Martin McNutt, which tied the game with less than three minutes remaining. Running an offense that’s not exactly built for the typical two minute drill, the Ohio State offense played Tresselball, running two consecutive run plays then throwing a short dump pattern to Saine on third and eight, which caused Ohio State to punt. When many Ohio State fans thought the Hawkeyes would attempt to drive down the field and win in the fourth quarter for the fifth time this season, Kirk Ferentz took a page out of Tressel’s book and decided to run the clock out. Going into overtime, the game was destined to go in Ohio State’s favor.

 Blessed with an extremely athletic bunch of athletes on defense, the Silver Bullets played their best ball of the night, causing Vandenburg to throw it away on first, then Ross Homan’s stop of Adam Robinson set up a third and 15 that decided the game. Looking like a proven veteran the entire night, Vandenburg made the worst decision he possibly could have made. As the pocket broke down, Vandenburg tried to scramble out of the pocket, being forced backwards and refusing to get rid of the ball, Doug Worthington brough him down 11 yards in the backfield and put Iowa well out of field goal range. With fourth and 26, the Hawkeyes’ chances of scoring were diminished. Sending it deep and hoping for a prayer, Vandenburg threw his third pick of the night as Anderson Russell grabbed his second on Saturday, this time an overthrown bomb that had no chance of being caught, well at least for Iowa.

 Now with the ball at their own 25 and an inexperienced kicker waiting on the sidelines for his chance, most of Buckeye Nation wanted Tressel to be a little more aggressive and get better field position. Well with the good ole Sweater Vest Jim running things on offense, the expected never happens, as three run plays later, the Buckeyes had the ball in the middle of the field at the 22, a 39 yard attempt for Barclay who coming into the kick was 2-5 in attempts longer than 30 yards. On an extremely mild night in Columbus, a town where the weather changes more than President Obama’s stance on the War in Iraq, the kick seemed like it hung in the air forever.

 But in the end, the kick was good and the Buckeyes had punched their ticket to Pasadena. Having not played in the Rose Bowl since 1997, Ohio State was once again BCS bound and free from playing USC again as the Trojans were romped by the Stanford Cardinal, 55-21 in Los Angeles. With Oregon and Arizona as the likely suitors for Ohio State’s opponent, each scenarios look good. Both teams are beatable and with the way the defense has been playing, it seems like nobody can bring down this Buckeye team when things are clicking. But for now let’s celebrate this win and focus on Michigan next week, a team that is tied for last in the Big Ten after a loss to Wisconsin where the terrible Wolverine secondary was exposed yet again. With their postseason plans already settled, it is a must that this team stayed focused for next week’s game. If so, this fifth straight Big Ten title will be even more rejuvenating as Tressel’s squad will have defeated Michigan for the sixth straight time. As another Senior Night ended in a win, this victory over Iowa was benefitial to Ohio State fans who finally witnessed the Buckeyes coming up clutch when it mattered most and leaving the field victorious.