Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) pulls away from Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Nick Perry (27) and defensive back Cyrus Jones (5)enroute to a 85-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
NEW ORLEANS — The Ohio State Buckeyes overcame enormous odds this season, losing two starting quarterbacks before handing the job to a redshirt sophomore who never started a regular-season college game.
And now, very suddenly, coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes are one victory away from an improbable national championship.
Sophomore running back Ezekiel Elliott battered Alabama for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 rushing yards, including an 85-yard touchdown burst with 3:24 left, powering No. 4 Ohio State to a 42-35 upset victory over the top-ranked Crimson Tide and a berth in the national championship game against Oregon in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 12.
Alabama entered the game with the nation’s third-ranked defense.
“That was a sledgehammer game,” Meyer said after his team advanced to 13-1 with its 12th consecutive victory, Ohio State’s first bowl victory over an Southeastern Conference team in 11 tries. “That was a classic, so we are good enough.”
Ohio State was clinging to a 34-28 lead when it took over at its 5-yard line with 5:24 remaining. After the Buckeyes picked up one first down, Elliott, a high school sprinter who was timed at 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash, took a handoff off left tackle, broke out of a diving tackle by linebacker Xzavier Dickson and ran unmolested for the score.
“I knew going into the game that the Alabama defensive front was going to be very big and physical, and it was going to be hard for our offensive line to get movement,” Elliott said. “But (the Ohio State linemen) did a great job. I knew I had to hit the holes hard and break some arm tackles.”
The Buckeyes converted the two-point conversion on a pass from quarterback Cardale Jones to wide receiver Michael Thomas, making it 42-28.
Alabama wasn’t dead, traveling 75 yards in six plays to cut the deficit to 42-35 on a 6-yard pass from quarterback Blake Sims to wide receiver Amari Cooper with 1:59 left.
The Crimson Tide had one more chance, getting the ball back at its 18 with 1:33 left and no timeouts remaining. After moving the ball to the Ohio State 42, Sims threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone, but it was intercepted by safety Tyvis Powell as time expired.
Meyer said he offered a silent prayer because he made a tactical mistake on Ohio State’s final offensive possession. The Buckeyes recovered the onside kick at their 49-yard line, and Alabama had two timeouts left.
Rather than run the ball on first down to force Alabama to use a timeout, Meyer called for a deep pass that fell incomplete, stopping the clock.
That helped Alabama get the ball back with extra time remaining.
“You start questioning yourself why you threw that ball down the field,” Meyer said. “It was my call. Maybe it wasn’t the right call. I just kept thinking I screwed this thing up.”
Jones, who started the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 6 and led the Buckeyes to a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin, had some early jitters but settled down to finish 18 of 35 for 243 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He moved into the starting lineup in the absence of Braxton Miller, lost to a shoulder injury in August, and J.T. Barrett, who broke his right ankle in the regular-season finale.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said even with just one game of videotape on Jones, he could tell the 6-foot-5, 250-pound quarterback had a rifle arm. He just didn’t know how good it was until he saw it in person.
“The new quarterback has a tremendous arm, and they have some very talented receivers,” Saban said. “Those things became very apparent in the last two games because of the quarterback. I think they’re capable of playing with anybody in the country.”
Perhaps the critical play of the game came with Alabama trailing 34-28 and 9:53 left. The Crimson Tide (12-2) took over on the Ohio State 23 after a 21-yard punt out of the end zone by Cameron Johnston.
However, instead of having his team push the ball with the run — running back Derrick Henry (95 yards on 13 carries) was pounding away at the Ohio State front seven — Saban tried to catch the Buckeyes off guard.
He had Sims roll to his right and throw toward the end zone, where his pass for tight end O.J. Howard was badly underthrown and easily intercepted at the goal line by safety Vonn Bell with 9:44 left.
“I was anxious to take more shots down the field,” Saban said. “I don’t think we did that enough early in the game.”
Of Ohio State’s six scoring drives, none were of the cheap variety, covering 80, 71, 71, 77, 75 and 95 yards.
The Buckeyes scored 28 consecutive points after trailing 21-6 late in the second quarter. Ohio State took the lead for good, 27-21, on a 47-yard pass from Jones to wide receiver Devin Smith early in the third quarter. On the play, cornerback Eddie Jackson slipped to the turf at the 10, and Smith was all alone to finish off the TD reception.
The Buckeyes scored their fourth consecutive touchdown courtesy of defensive trickery. Facing a third-and-7, Sims thought Cooper was open, but right defensive end Steve Miller dropped into coverage for an interception and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown and a 34-21 Ohio State lead.
NOTES: P JK Scott was an unsung hero for Alabama, punting seven times for a 55-yard average and keeping the Buckeyes bottled up. … Alabama’s struggles in the secondary continued against Ohio State. In the first nine games of the season, Alabama yielded just three completions of 25 yards or longer, but in its last four games, it allowed 13. Ohio State had three 25-plus receptions in the first half. … Alabama QB Blake Sims completed 22 of 36 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions.
