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2014 national title anniversary: Look back at Ohio State football’s win vs Michigan State
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- 2014 national title anniversary: Look back at Ohio State football’s win vs Michigan State
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 national championship season, when the Ohio State football Buckeyes went 14-1 and captured the first College Football Playoff title. We'll relive that remarkable year by sharing the game stories from that campaign as they appeared in the pages of The Columbus Dispatch.
Now up: Ohio State's overtime win over Michigan State .
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Meyer gets signature victory
OSU finally beats a top-10 foe in his third season
November 8, 2014
EAST LANSING, Mich. — In three seasons under coach Urban Meyer, the Ohio State football team has lacked only one thing – a signature victory over a top-10 team.
Not anymore.
Ohio State gained the inside track for a spot in the Big Ten championship game and kept afloat its hopes for the College Football Playoff with a 49-37 victory last night over No. 7 Michigan State at Spartan Stadium.
"This is one for the ages," Meyer said. "That's how much respect we had for our opponent."
The 14th-ranked Buckeyes (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 21st straight regular-season conference game, a league record. More importantly, they avenged a loss to Michigan State in last year's league title game. That first defeat of Meyer's Buckeyes kept Ohio State out of last year's national championship game.
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This Ohio State team has a much different cast, but even those players who watched on the sideline or their couches that night were hungry to help reassert the Buckeyes' supremacy in the Big Ten.
They were up to the challenge. After trailing 21-14, the Buckeyes' offense got touchdowns on their next six possessions against a defense that ranked fifth nationally in total yards allowed. Ohio State gained 568 yards.
In Ohio State's two previous games against credible defenses – Virginia Tech and Penn State – redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett had thrown five of his seven interceptions.
Michael Thomas escapes a tackle attempt by Michigan State’s Kurtis Drummond on his way to a 79-yard touchdown reception.
He played flawlessly against the Spartans. He didn't commit a turnover and completed 16 of 26 passes for 300 yards, with 129 of them going to Devin Smith .
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"We had to answer each one of their hits and we did," Meyer said. "He was very accurate on the deep balls. Devin Smith, that's his best game in the last three years."
He ran for 86 yards, including a 55-yard dash to set up a score that all but clinched the game with 7 minutes left.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns behind an offensive line that consistently opened holes.
The defense rallied after a shaky start. Michigan State (7-2, 4-1) got touchdowns on three of its first five possessions. Ohio State held the Spartans to only one field goal in their next five drives as the Buckeyes asserted control.
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"I'm very proud of our guys," Meyer said. "A young team grew up tonight. I told them that the future is extremely bright at Ohio State."
The first half was marked by sudden momentum shifts and offenses that were seldom stopped, except by themselves.
Ohio State overcame two special-teams turnovers and a missed 47-yard field-goal attempt to lead 28-21.
After Michigan State needed only five plays to go 63 yards to take a 7-0 lead, the Buckeyes answered with an even quicker score set up by a 47-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott.
Michigan State then took advantage of the first major mistake of the game. After the Buckeyes forced a punt, Jeff Greene could not get out of the way of a short kick. The ball hit him and the Spartans recovered. On the next play, Jeremy Langford ran 33 yards for a touchdown.
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A hands-to-the-face penalty on Taylor Decker wiped out a first down at MSU's 9 on OSU's next possession, and the Buckeyes eventually had to punt on, fourth-and-45.
The Buckeyes tied it when Barrett scored on a fourth-and-goal keeper at the 1 before Michigan State drove 66 yards in 14 plays to go ahead 21-14.
When Dontre Wilson fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return at Ohio State's 18, the Buckeyes looked to be in serious trouble. But a touchdown run was wiped out on a holding call, and Michael Geiger missed a 39-yard field-goal try.
That proved to be the turning point as Ohio State took the lead with two big plays.
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First, Michael Thomas caught a pass on a slant, shed a tackle by cornerback Darian Hicks and scored on a 79-yard catch.
The Buckeyes went ahead 28-21 on a beautiful 44-yard touchdown catch by Smith with 56 seconds left before halftime.
"This is a different Buckeye team than it was early in the season," Meyer said. "This team right now is playing on a very, very high level."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football vs Michigan State 2014 National Championship year
