Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post Posted: Saturday, January 3, 2015, 1:08 AM NEW ORLEANS – As an onlooker, you would think a team has plunged into great trouble when it has fallen behind, 21-6, when its quarterback is making only his second start on a gaudy stage, when that quarterback has just thrown a ghastly interception, and when the opponent is a near-dynasty with the country’s most developed knack for finishing. Yet the Ohio State Buckeyes did not think that on Thursday night in their 42-35 national playoff semifinal victory at the Superdome. They literally did not feel that trouble. This wasn’t because they had some rah-rah moment of brotherhood and pluck. This didn’t fall into the bulging sports file of pulling it together out of having “something to prove.” This was because they believed, one after the other through the merry late-night locker room, that the 21-6 score midway through the second quarter did not reflect accurately the goings-on on the field. They felt certain right down to their bones partly because they have a head coach, Urban Meyer, who has a long-established knack for convincing college players of things. They also have a head coach who knows his way around the Southeastern Conference, the level at which they were testing themselves for the first time as they opposed No. 1 Alabama. They also knew about the stat sheet, which one after another kept bringing up. “Yeah,” tight end Jeff Heuerman said. “Obviously you look at the stats, when we came in at halftime. We had about 350 yards, they had about 120.” In the sweeping inversion that followed, Ohio State, led by that third-string quarterback Cardale Jones, outscored Alabama, 36-14, the rest of the way. The Buckeyes, who will play Oregon in the national title game on Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas, added to a big Big Ten day – Wisconsin over Auburn in the Outback Bowl, Michigan State over Baylor in the Cotton – and reshaped the national landscape. Ohio State wide receiver Evan Spencer pegged the fresh reality: There’s no dominant conference anymore; there are only very good teams here and there. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State’s win reshapes college football landscape
