It was the nailbighters of all nailbighters. Most of us probably chewed down to the bone! If you were at the game, it was eerily quiet right after they scored to go up 17-7 but it was like a switch flipped at that moment, because the rest of the game was completely different. Let’s see what the staff has to say about who did what good this week!
Offensive
tOSU Offensive MVP
J.T. Barrett now has 100 career TDs responsible for! pic.twitter.com/xxDfYtyZ7K
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) November 26, 2016
Scott – JT Barrett. As all great QBs do, he took the game over when he needed to.
Chris – This is hard… My heart tells me Joe Thomas Barrett but my head knows what I saw during The Game. I wish I would have kept track of how many times I yelled, “STOP THROWING THE BALL HIGH.” It was enough that my 12 year old son started yelling it along with me. That being said, he absolutely won that game for the Buckeyes. His leadership and calm demeanor made the rest of the offense stick it out to the very end. Averaging 4.2 yards per carry with 125 yards and losing 32 yards on mostly sacks, is INSANE.
Mike Meals – JT. For all the mistakes the entire team made…when he needed to make plays he did (not always for him, either). In a game like that, against a D like UM, you knew you could count on JT to do something. And he did. (Side note: it’s ok to be critical of his play, but if you legitimately called for him to be benched, go ahead and….well, I’ll leave that to your imagination. Just know you’re clearly an idiot).
Jeremy – It has to be the captain JT Barrett! As maddening as he can be at times he made the plays when we needed it the most. He got the critical 1st down in 2OT that led to winning score (and yes he got it and I’ll say that until you show me overhead or sideline cam view)
Ryan – JT Barrett. His O-line didn’t give him time. He missed easy plays when the O-line DID give him time. He missed reads on the zone read option. BUT, with the game on the line late, he stepped up, took control, and led. Led us to overtime, led us to victory. In all seriousness, we should not have won that game. Our defense gave JT the chances late to make the magic happen. I don’t care that he carried the ball 30 times. I don’t care that his QBR rating was 36.1. The man is a leader.
Brad TBU – JT since everyone else has covered the Negatives from Yesterday. I’m going to go to the Positive when the money was on the table & they needed a big play 16 went to work & delivered
WVa – How many times have we heard the phrase, just win? JT Barrett knew what was coming after him every play and let’s be honest, TTUN defensive front is pretty darn good! When it was time to step up and carry his team he did and he had help because their defense got tired and needed help with Samuel at the end of the game.
Joe Thomas Barrett. Period.
tOSU O-line MVP
Scott – Pat Elflein. Don’t want to not name anyone again.
Chris – Patrick Elflein. I know they played awful as a unit but in rewatching the game, Elflein was not as bad. He was forced to compensate for some awful missed assignments by the guards.
Mike Meals – Can we name Prince as the Non-MVP? Still and always Pat E!
Jeremy – For much of the game they were beaten badly! I mean downright abused. But they likewise held up during our regulation tying drive. And there was Elflein leading the way. I’ll give him the nod
Ryan – Elflein gets this award. He’s back in my good graces. All honesty, the line played atrocious. They all stepped up late, Prince included, when it was needed. They’re young, they’ll grow.
Brad TBU – Billy Price yes Elflien will win this round of the Pat Elflien award but he did miss some key blocks yet every time they needed a big run 54 made the blocks that opened up the lanes to allow JT to do what JT does.
WVa – Billy Price was a man on a mission on Saturday and probably played his best game of the season. I love watching him when the guy he was suppose to block disappears. He goes and finds someone to destroy.
Pat Elflein the All-American
tOSU Offensive Unsung
Scott – Curtis Samuel. Just for that one catch and run.
Chris – Marcus Baugh. Good day all around for the tight end. Was forced to spend most of his day blocking since ⅗ of the offensive line was blocking like they had never done a footwork drill in their lives.
Mike Meals – I haven’t seen a stat line yet, but Weber was stuffed against a great D. I’m going Samuel here, not because he’s unsung, but because he definitely should be rewarded after that effort
Jeremy – Noah Brown. He made some nice catches but it was his blocking that makes him my unsung. I mean he killed Dymonte Thomas on one such block!
Ryan – Curtis Samuel is not unsung, by any stretch of the imagination, but, his walk-off touchdown will always be remembered in Ohio/Michigan history.
Brad TBU – Going to Agree with Jeremy, Noah Brown made key blocks & had JT made a few more correct reads he would noticed Noah Brown was open a lot.
WVa – Curtis Samuel cannot get out from behind JT’s shadow and maybe that’s the way it has to be right now. The fact that he has answered the call and taken a beating doing it is remarkable to me. When everyone else is asking that he get more touches, he understands he get’s all of the attention. The JT Barrett TD was possible in OT because four TTUN defenders went where Curtis went.
Curtis Samuel is perfectly fine with being unsung
Defensive
tOSU Defensive MVP
🏈👀DOUBLE TAKE🏈👀
Baker INT cooks up a second TD for @OhioStateFB
Buckeyes close to withing 3 of TTUN#GoBucks #BeatTTUN pic.twitter.com/0Nhh3KnTM6— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) November 26, 2016
Scott – Malik Hooker. Obvious reason.
Chris – Jerome Baker. That kid played the best game of his career, so far. Michigan did what they could to stop Raekwon McMillan (not very well, by the way) and Baker stepped in and made a statement. He is going to be the man on this defense next season.
Mike Meals – MY BOY KWON!!! Our stud Mike LB had somewhere around infinity tackles.
Jeremy – Raekwon McMillian and Jerome Baker. Combined 31 tackles, 1.5 tfl, sack and a big interception. Helped lead a defense that held ttun to under 100 yards rushing and 2.1 ypc just a week after being gashed. These 2 were everywhere on the field hitting anything that moved
Ryan – I am giving this to every single player on the defense that played in that game. Every one of them stepped up. Every one of them played their greatest game when it needed to be played the most. Raekwon and Baker were scary! Hooker’s Pick six will be one of the greatest pick sixes in the history of pick sixes. Bosa was disruptive, and Hubbard is a man and shut down the passing game, for the most part, only 219 passing yards. They shut down the rushing game to under 100 yards. Seriously, this young, talented defense is one of the best in the country. SCARY!
Brad TBU – 3 way tie Raekwon, Last Name Baker & Malik Hooker
WVa – Mr. Pick-Six is my MVP for the season
Has to be the Silver Bullets winning this one, right?
tOSU D-line MVP
Scott – Sam Hubbard. He’s a stud-in-waiting.
Chris – Dre’mont Jones had one of hell of a game and I don’t think I heard his name but one time. His ability to get off blocks and make tackles is scary. He was also doing a great job of taking up two lineman allowing the defensive ends to get into the backfield.
Mike Meals – Sam Hubbard. Just love that kid
Jeremy – I’m going way outside the box… Davon Hamilton! His only contribution was the recovered fumble on the goal line but that was huge and saved the game from being out of hand
Ryan – Hubbard is going to be making lots of money on Sundays. He’s an animal.
Brad TBU –Tyquan Lewis & Jalyn Holmes put huge pressure on Speight in the 4th quarter
WVa – Sam Hubbard played his best game of the season so far and brought the rest of the line with him. It is amazing to me the depth this d-line has and there’s little to no drop-off.
Sam Hubbard is separating himself from the rest of the pack
tOSU Defensive Unsung
Scott – Nick Bosa. Draws attention when he’s out there.
Chris – Chris Worley. Had a great game overall but was overshadowed by McMillan and Baker. That’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
Mike Meals – It pains me to say this, but D Webb.
Jeremy – Dremont Jones. The guy seemingly leads our DL in tackles every week and somehow is rarely mentioned. He did a great job today shedding blocks to make plays and hold Smith to minimal gains.
Ryan – Nick Bosa. True freshman, in the biggest game, on the biggest stage, and it wasn’t too big for him. He had a sack, and was as disruptive as ever. True freshman, guys. TRUE FRESHMAN. My excitement for his future is crazy.
Brad TBU –Agreeing with Chris Worley worked his rear end off yesterday causing several problems for the Weasels in the 2nd have.
WVa – Chris Worley played his best game of the season too, and is one of the reasons Raekwon has been able to step away from his zone at times and make plays.
Chris Worley gets the nod
Odds and Ends
tOSU Special Teams MVP
🏈👀DOUBLE TAKE🏈👀
Weber muscles it across the goal line to bring the Buckeyes to within three as we head to the 4th Q in THE GAME #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/8XwbWTWxlp— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) November 26, 2016
Scott – Ha ha.
Chris – The snaps sure looked good. Liam McCullough. GET ON THE BANDWAGON.
Mike Meals – I’ve got nothing. Cam didn’t blow me away with the eye test. Kickers were bad, PR was a mess all day.
Jeremy – Jabrill Peppers for not wanting to try to return punts for some reason.
Ryan – Uh, yeah, um, so here’s the thing… Durbin made an easy field goal to tie the game when we needed it…
Brad TBU –Urban & Kerry Combs need to have a discussion with the special teams coaches err themselves.
WVa – I won’t try either, missed field goals were not the flavor of the day the Buckeyes needed!
Nobody wins this one
tOSU Needs Improvement
Scott – WR play. I know they’re young but geez. Get open.
Chris – I’m inclined to bag on the WRs here but Joe Thomas was WAY off all day. Ohio State is in a world of hurt next season if the OL doesn’t improve dramatically. I don’t know what’s going to happen with this staff in the offseason but if this OL play is due to coaching, it’s time for a change.
Mike Meals – Durbin…you do that again, you can stay out of Ohio
Jeremy – if JT comes back there has to be work done on his mechanics my gosh they’re bad at times.
This OL loses its captain and man they didn’t seem to improve much as the year went on. I expect to see a lot of open competition at the tackle positions.
Ryan – The OLine will lose Elflein, so they need a leader to step up. I imagine they’ll drastically improve next season. They’re young. If JT returns, with an improved Oline, I imagine his comfortability in the pocket will improve, and he’ll step up in the pocket and take the chances we know he can.
Brad TBU – Again everyone pretty much covered it . So I’m going to go right at our Rivals Attitudes & their Head Coach win you win say little when you lose say less. The Referees were not bought & paid for & no one screwed you over. Your Qb threw 2 picks that lead to Touchdowns he fumbled on the 2 yard line & it was your Coach who decided to see if he could qualify for the olympic discus & shotput teams by launching his play cards to midfield. Never again remind us of you so called class because neither your coach team or majority of your fan base bothered to show any Saturday. I will now relinquish my soap box.
WVa – Special teams play can and will cost this team a national title, they are lucky it did not cost them The Game.
tOSU Next Big Star
Scott – Mike Weber Jr. got a few tough yards here and there.
Chris – I’m going to keep beating the Jerome Baker drum.
Mike Meals – Weber. He was up against a REAL MAN defense today. And while not the greatest rushing performance ever, he did his job. He was successful as a runner.
Jeremy – Jerome Baker! I think next year this kid is an All American
Ryan – KJ Hill, Mike Weber, Nick Bosa, etc. etc. etc. The list of talent on this team is insane. They’ll all be big stars next season.
Brad TBU –Bosa is starting to become what he was advertised to be. And as I’ve said all season Jones is going to be an absolute stud.
WVa – There are several and it wouldn’t be fair to name just one. This teams next two years is scary looking!
Mike Weber gets the most mentions
TB1G Coach of the Week
Scott – Kirk Ferentz. Having a good season at Iowa. Under the radar.
Chris – Kirk Ferentz for giving me a huge reason to laugh at Nebraska fans for the next month or so.
Mike Meals – JFrank at Penn St. Sure, they suck, but they got the job done to steal our division championship and invite to Indy.
Jeremy – James Franklin. Penn State went out and handled their business and won the East when most thought Franklin wouldn’t survive the season after 2 early losses
Ryan – James Franklin. Those Nittany Housecats took care of business and are playing for the B1G Championship next weekend.
Brad TBU –James Franklin has been my leader in the clubhouse for B1G Coach year. But Paul Christ has Whiskey on all cylinders right now and more likely will be B1G Conference Champions next Saturday.
WVa – James Franklin hands down and this could be as good a PSU team that JoePa had go undefeated and not make the championship!
James Franklin is the easy choice.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
