The date is August 19, 2014. Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes were gearing up for the season after a disappointing showing in the Orange Bowl. That bowl loss came off the heels of Meyer’s first loss as the Ohio State coach in the Big Ten Championship to Michigan State. Despite that, there was a feeling that the Buckeyes were going to be able to contend in the first-ever “College Football Playoff.”
Star quarterback Braxton Miller, fresh off of surgery to repair a labrum injury suffered in that Orange Bowl loss, was set to lead the Buckeyes to glory and even contend for the Heisman. Then, it all came crashing down. On an otherwise innocuous throw, Miller re-injured his shoulder in what ended up being a torn labrum.
The fate of the Buckeyes was suddenly thrust into the hands of redshirt freshman, J.T. Barrett.
2014 Ohio State Championship Run Was Born Out of Adversity
The loss of Miller at quarterback could not have been understated. Leading up to the injury, he was the back-to-back Big Ten MVP, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, and First-Team All-Big Ten selection. Heading into the 2014 season, Miller was coming off two 2,000-yard passing seasons.
He had set career bests with a 63.5% completion percentage and 24 passing touchdowns. On the ground, he was the team’s second-leading rusher in both seasons with a two-season total of 2,339 yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground.
He was third on the preseason Heisman Trophy odds behind reigning winner Jameis Winston and eventual winner, Marcus Mariota.
With one pass, all of that went up in smoke.
Next Man Up
After being thrust into the spotlight, it took a few weeks for Barrett to step into his role. After a good-but-not-great win over Navy, Barrett’s inexperience was on full display. The Buckeyes then welcomed Virginia Tech to Columbus and Barrett turned in a 9-for-29 night with 219 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Despite his struggles, the Buckeyes got to midfield on a potential game-tying drive but then Donovan Riley intercepted him and ran it back 63 yards for a game-sealing touchdown.
After that loss, Barrett locked in. In Ohio State’s final two non-conference matchups against Kent State and Cincinnati, he threw for 642 yards and 10 touchdowns. In total, he tossed at least one touchdown in every game and scored multiple times through the air nine times.
Then, in the final game of the year, more adversity struck. Ohio State already had a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game but beating a 5-6 Michigan quad was the only goal. With 14:45 to go in the game, Barrett pulled down an option on second and one, was hit awkwardly in the backfield, and did not get back up. With a narrow 28-21 lead, the Buckeyes had to go to their third quarterback, redshirt sophomore, Cardale Jones.
Barrett’s season ended with a torn ACL after passing for 2,834 yards and 34 touchdowns. On the ground, he ran for 938 yards and 11 scores.
The Legend of Cardale Jones
As a result, one of, if not the most legendary three-plus-game run by a backup quarterback was born.
After a punt, Jones got the ball back up seven with 8:10 to go. The coaches did not have him do much in the closing minutes of the game and Ezekiel Elliott ran the ball three times and broke a 44-yard touchdown run. Then, the defense put it out of reach with a scoop-and-score.
That early-season loss paired with being down to QB3, the College Football Playoff committee needed to be impressed. 558 total yards and a final score of 59-0 did just that. The Buckeyes demolished Wisconsin and jumped two idle Big 12 co-Champions to get into the inaugural CFP.
In the CFP, Jones led the 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes to the program’s eighth National Championship thanks to a pair of solid performances to go with an equally ridiculous Elliott two-game run. Jones threw for 485 yards and two touchdowns.
He nearly parlayed that run into an NFL Draft pick but ultimately elected to return for 2015. He ended up a fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Bills.
Young Bucks
The 2014 Ohio State season was only made possible by a handful of young playmakers. In total, the Buckeyes had three returning starters on offense and seven on defense. Two of those defenders were sophomores.
Barrett was a redshirt freshman. Elliott, the team’s leading rusher with 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns was a true sophomore. Jones was a redshirt sophomore. Curtis Samuel, the team’s third-leading rusher was a true freshman. Michael Thomas, the second-leading receiver, was a redshirt sophomore. H-Backs Jalin Marshall (redshirt freshman) and Dontre Wilson (sophomore) were heavily utilized. Redshirt freshman Billy Price and redshirt sophomore Pat Elflein starred on the offensive line.
Defensively, it was more of the same. Joey Bosa led the defense with 21 sacks as a sophomore. Darron Lee was one of the best linebackers of the Urban Meyer era and he was a sophomore. Second-leading tackler Vonn Bell was a sophomore. Bell also led the way with six interceptions. Tyvis Powell was a redshirt sophomore. Eli Apple was a redshirt freshman. True freshman Raekwon McMillan was heavily featured in the linebacker rotation.
Both of Meyer’s first two recruiting classes were to thank for the title. Luke Fickell, in this lone season at the helm, did a great job of bringing in future stars despite how that season ended up.
The roster was home to 31 NFL Draft picks. Nine were first-round picks.
The First.
The College Football Playoff era of college football has done a great job of at least quelling some of the “most deserving” arguments. Of course, in 2014, TCU and Baylor had arguments. Every year, some team has had an argument to make it but, overall, it’s done a good job of crowning the right team.
The 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes were the first of a new era.
The team came together as a young group and rallied around a brand-new, unproven quarterback. But perhaps the biggest big of adversity in the season was the tragedy surrounding Kosta Karageorge.
Karageorge was a walk-on nose tackle for the Buckeyes and was also a wrestler. In late November, Karageorge was reported missing by his mother after some distressing messages. Then, on November 30, approximately three days after being reported missing, he was found in a dumpster by his apartment with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In his athletic career, Kostageorge experienced at least 15 reported concussions, with a suspicion that he had many more. He was living with stage one chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). While the autopsy and diagnosis felt that it was impossible to link CTE to the suicide, he was reportedly in a concerning state that week.
The tragedy galvanized the Ohio State team and gave the Buckeyes something more to play for.
The 2024 season will mark 10 years since the last National Championship won by the Buckeyes. It took 12 years for the 2002 team to take home the title in 2014. Before that, it was 32 years.
Ryan Day’s squad is going to be very different from the 2014 edition. Most notably, it’ll be veteran-laden. Time will tell if this year’s team has what it takes to win the expanded CFP. The 2014 sure did.
