COLUMBUS — It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.
No. 6 Ohio State (7-1, 5-0) came back from 18 points down to secure a 39-38 victory over No. 2 Penn State (7-1, 4-1) thanks to what was actually a suffocating defense and a dominating passing game. After the game, Urban Meyer and a handful of players and coaches spoke with the media. What did they have to say? Here are the highlights.
Urban Meyer Updates
+ “Wow. What the heck just happened?”
+ That was one of the best fourth quarters ever. J.T. Barrett was 13-13 for 170 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
+ “You guys can figure out all the records. I’ll just tell you, man-to-man, this is one man talking about another man. I don’t know if I’ve ever had more respect for a human being and as a person, because you earn respect and you witness people in very dire straits at times, tough situations.”
+ Barrett was 33-of-39 passes and Meyer can count four drops on his hands.
+ He’s seen this side of J.T. Barrett for the last four years.
+ Nobody ever doubted Barrett inside the WHAC.
+ Barrett is “strong as a lion” and “a professional.”
+ Meyer did say “uh oh” after Barrett’s fumble in the fourth quarter though.
+ The kickoff coverage was “comical” and Meyer did not want to talk about it. It will be addressed and there will be personnel changes.
+ Meyer was the only one on the sideline panicking. He’s not proud of that.
+ “Can’t remember one quite like this one.”
+ Asked about the kick coverage, Meyer talked about how great a leader Barrett is.
+ Heisman talk is appropriate now for J.T. Barrett after this game.
+ During the final possessions: “I heard, do we blitz? Do we do this? I remember over the headsets Coach Johnson saying ‘let them go. Coach, no, you don’t need to pressure them. Let those four guys go after the quarterback.’ And, my gosh, they were all over the place.”
J.T. Barrett Updates
+ What was going through his mind in the fourth quarter? “Go win the game.”
+ Blessed to be in this situation. “I’m just a little cat from Wichita Falls, Texas.”
+ On the fumbled exchange, he was trying not to pull it out. He was trying to hand it off. His thought? “Really, J.T., right now?”
+ He’s not focused on “the H-word” (Heisman).
+ They put the touchdown play to Marcus Baugh in the offense Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
+ “When it comes down to playing a Big Ten game, it’s Penn State, No. 2 in the country, at home. Somebody’s gotta step up and make plays. We talk about that it in the offseason. Who is going to make the plays? And I think we have a lot of people on our team that have that burning desire to go make those plays. And I think that’s what you want your team, you want to have a team or people that are sharp in those moments. So people stepped up and made those plays and had confidence in themselves. And at the end of the day that’s really what you want.”
Jamarco Jones Updates
+ Jones put this win right at the top with the Michigan game last year.
Marcus Baugh Updates
+ On what he was thinking when he saw the game-winning pass coming towards him: “I have to catch it. It was a good ball, great position, just had to catch it and make up big for when I dropped the first one.”
K.J. Hill Updates
+ On stepping up after Parris Campbell’s injury: “That’s what we do. It is what we work and practice for. One man goes down and it is next man up, so I was there to do that when Parris went down.”
Chris Worley Updates
+ On overcoming a talented Penn State team: “They had a couple big plays that just kept giving them life. When you have a good team and you keep giving them life like that, they’re going to capitalize on it. We knew that, so we tried our best to keep on that and given any chance, we took care of business.”
Terry McLaurin Updates
+ On J.T. Barrett’s leadership and performance tonight: “We see him every day. We don’t care about what anyone else thinks about J.T. because we know what we think about J.T. and what he brings to the table. I know we had four drops, so we left that on the field. He’s an incredible leader. That’s a Heisman candidate right there.”
+ On his emotions after scoring his touchdown: “I kind of almost choked up after catching that. I just felt like we were shooting ourselves in the foot and we deserved this moment. Things weren’t going the way that we wanted them to at first, and as a leader, I just wanted to make a play for my team. Coach Mick (Marotti) talks about to start a riot, somebody has to throw the first punch, so I just wanted to get us going by making a play.”
Billy Price Updates
+ On the energy on the field after the win: “It was great just to be around my brothers. We talk about brotherhood a lot. This is the brotherhood. I wouldn’t be able to execute out there if I didn’t have all my guys and everyone else behind these scenes. I was trying to be thankful, look around and just enjoy the moment.”
James Franklin, Penn State head coach
+ On J.T. Barrett and the Ohio State offense: “He’s a veteran quarterback who is protected very well and they have a lot of skillful players. We are usually able to get to quarterbacks just through pass rush or blitz but we weren’t able to do that tonight.”
Koa Farmer, Penn State junior linebacker
+ On handling momentum changes: “That’s tough. As a defense, that’s when you got to grit your chin and be tough. Today, we just weren’t there. They just made more plays. Their concepts were pretty good. Even myself, there’s some things that I should of done that could have forced a ball thrown in the flat and I could of made the tackle and got us off the field. The plays they were running and their game plan against us was really well done.”
John O’Neill, referee
+ On the overturned call in the end zone with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter: “The offensive receiver had full possession of the ball, brought the ball down and completed the process of a catch. He then rolled over and at that point, the Ohio State defender came on him. By rule, joint possession belongs to the offense. The Penn State receiver had the ball first. He brought the ball down, completed the process of a catch, rolled over at which point the Ohio State defender came down on him.”
We need the fastest guys on the kickoff team and if that means putting our starting defensive backs in there, that’s what we need to do. Penn State did make some awesome blocks on Barkley’s return.
I thought the definition of completing the catch meant that all momentum from that action had ceased. If he’s rolling over, how has the action of catching the ball been completed? As a former basketball referee, I am loathe to criticize officials. Those guys, however, were the ultimate clown show.
What about the interception that was called pass interference?? That was clearly an exceptional pick with no interference at all! That poor call was game changing. Officials need to be reprimanded for this crap!
No more dull ‘grey’ uniforms. Take more pride in “Scarlet & Grey”. While it doesn’t/shouldn’t effect their play, it did little to spark upTV viewers our Team and those in the Shoe. Congratulations, Buckeyes!!
It was the second most viewed game this season. Id say they watched regardless of our unis.
Absolutely agree about special teams. The current plan leaves one side of the field totally exposed and we have paid for it in two games. Also, WE NEED MORE DOBBINS. That guy is the potential home run hitter at tailback. He is not Zeke yet, but he could be.
And let’s not forget Parris Campbell being knocked out of the Nebraska game by the crown of a helmet being buried in his cheek for a no-call in spite of the play being reviewed. If Bill Carollo, B1G director of officiating, fails to deal with this consistent incompetence, he needs to go.
Urban. You’re the special teams/kickoff coach. All year the ball hasn’t been consistently kicked where you want,stop being stubborn ,play to your advantages. The kickoffs could have cost the game,you have great ,fast players ,kick it straight downfield and let your players tackle. STOP trying to be cute and kick to a corner when you’re kickoff man can’t do it …this has gone on every week…
Yes Andrew, again I am stunned the replay folks blew that call. By rule there has to be clear evidence (no, I don’t feel like looking up the exact quote right now) to overturn a call- and it most certainly was NOT clear. That means the onfield call MUST stand, period. I understand why the live official could err on such a call, but when the replay guys mess it up my mind is boggled. I think Ward was the same guy who was incorrectly ejected for targeting a few weeks back, also because a replay official conveniently ignored the rule and lacked the courage to call it properly. The officiating mess is a very complex problem, given that even super slow replay and all the time needed to review specific plays is not yielding correct calls…
We must have watched different replays. It was clear the PSU player had the catch first and hit the ground. Plus, by rule, ties go to the offensive player. Refs didn’t cost us but WE almost cost us. Shook all that off and got the win! Go Bucks!!!
Hats off to JT Barrett. This was the best game he has played at Ohio State by far. That was a brutal 4th quarter. Probably the single greatest quarter of football I’ve ever seen played by one quarterback.
Completely agree with Andrew. Ward made a good INT and got jobbed out of it by the refs. Big 10 refs are the worst officiating group in ALL of football at any level.
Coach Meyer should fire the special teams coaches. Those coaches are the reason why this game was close.
Those penalties must stop. ALTHOUGH that interference call on Damon Arnette was BS. Again, the suckiest referee’s in the Country at it again, and again, and again. I’ve also replayed the call on Hubbard for a facemask. He never grabbed their quarterbacks facemask.
Great win and I do believe JT easily shot ahead of Barkley in the Heisman conversation. Remarkable game played by JT.
Urban gets paid way, way too much money to coach special teams and have them suck this bad. Can’t blame any other coach for this one. It’s been a problem all season so why wait until after almost giving this game away to say that he is going to make personnel changes? Come on Urb – take the blame and get it fixed. Find someone who can kick it through the end zone. Your defense can handle teams starting on the 25.
You are right, Buckeyedad. Too many homers- whoops, “fans”- will remember only the final score, and not the ongoing disaster that was our special teams. Along with offensive play calling that was at best mysterious most of the way, the special teams play of OSU was PSU’s greatest asset. If the quotes above are any indication, our 7 figure coach who takes so much pride in special teams hasn’t the faintest clue how to fix it- with players HE recruited. I almost laughed out loud when I read the first Meyer quote above- “Wow, What the heck just happened”? I think what just happened was a football game, coach- one that was MUCH closer than it should have been largely due to your “specialty” of special teams play. Someone else needs to coach that unit.
Somebody else DOES coach the special teams. Kerry Coombs is the special teams coordinator. It’s him and Meyer and others.
There’s this bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you…If Meyer he involved he controls it, period. He is also consistently quoted on how much he values special teams play and the amount of time he spends working on it. No wiggle room on this one, its a disaster headed by him. I’d suggest you or other local media press him on it, if there was a snowball’s chance in Honolulu anyone would actually do it. Keep on apologizing for it.
There is no apologizing. It’s an issue. Did you like the punt block?
He gets paid to be Head Coach. Does he get paid too much for that gutsy comeback performance by the guys who actually play the game?
I’ve watched that play a dozen times. WARD stripped the ball while they were in the air and HE came down on his back, NOT the receiver. Since it takes contact with the GROUND for a receiver to be down and NOT an opposing player, “by rule” it was an INT.
B1G officiating crews have missed WAY too many calls this season, most glaringly the targeting call on Ward v. Maryland. The conference needs to “man-up”, review these horrible calls and make some “adjustments” to their crews. WIth the available assistance of replay, there is no reason to get these potential game-changing calls wrong.
No matter how (homer LOL) you see the call, that was b@d@$$ BLANKET coverage by Ward. Suffocating all night, he had a whale of a game. Whole D did. Stuffed Nits resulted 🙂 Go Bucks!!!