Elliott, a contender for the Heisman Trophy, had his 14th rushing touchdown of the season and 34th of his career on a 15-yard run in the second quarter against the Gophers, helping the Buckeyes to achieve a 28-14 victory.
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Ohio State redshirt sophomore QB J.T. Barrett could return to the starting lineup When asked if Barrett will be in the running for the Buckeyes’ starting QB job this week, Urban Meyer said: “Yes”. Down 14-0 and slated to play defense to begin the second half, this should have been a time to be aggressive. On 3rd-and-18, with the pocket collapsing, Jones stepped up in the pocket and ran for 19 yards and a first down.
“I believe that”, Claeys said Monday. “I was doing what I had to do to help the team”. “Even though it’s probably a 60,000- or 70,000-seat stadium, I felt like I was in a high-school stadium”.
Typically, players won’t acknowledge streaks like this, and rarely do they admit to making it a point of extending them.
The No. 3 Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 22nd straight game.
But it wasn’t easy. Jones also showed off a little bit of his running ability, turning in 65 yards – 38 of which came game-clinching touchdown run on a critical 3rd-and-9 inside of two minutes remaining.
“It’s nice to have Damon back, a guy that has a good sense of his spot, so it’s going to be all right”, Bell said. “I give our defense credit for giving us the opportunity to get back on the field and get a few drives together”. Minnesota has three games left, all against teams which now have a winning record, and will need to win two of them.
Jones connected on a couple of deep balls, including a 44-yard pass delivered in stride to Jalin Marshall.
Leidner was 27 of 44 for 281 yards and an interception. KJ Maye was the main target. Geronimo Allison and Desmond Cain have combined for 1,052 receiving yards and four touchdowns while Malik Turner has 20 receptions.
But Ohio State caught a break on a questionable penalty call that came on a pick-six in the second quarter to score their first touchdown.
ABOUT OHIO STATE (8-0, 4-0): Jones has passed for 1,266 yards and seven touchdowns against five interceptions and senior Braxton Miller – now a receiver but a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year – will be the No. 2 quarterback against the Golden Gophers.
Though Claeys may have already done enough to earn himself a chance as full-time head coach, how the Gophers rally for the season’s last stretch after losses to Michigan and Ohio State could go a long ways toward setting the tone for the future of the program.
When Jones is in there, Ohio State has to scratch Meyer’s bread-and-butter read option that Barrett runs so masterfully.
“Ezekiel Elliott didn’t do as much or as well against us”, Gophers linebacker Jack Lynn said. “We don’t teach that, so it’s on me. I think that’s what saved me”. It is unclear if Walker still is considering Ohio State, to which he committed via Twitter during halftime of the Buckeyes’ national championship victory over Oregon on January 12.
Ohio State (3rd, 8-0) found themselves ranked in the College Football Playoff inside the Top Four but not by much.
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It has been both a physically and emotionally draining season for the Gophers. The kickoff temperature was 45 degrees, 30 degrees warmer than the game last season in Minneapolis when it also snowed….
