In a 2015 Sugar Bowl contest that went down to the final play on New Year’s Day 2015, the underdog Ohio State Buckeyes pulled off a major upset of the Alabama Crimson Tide, winning 42-35 on New Year’s Day at the Superdome in New Orleans. The victory puts the Buckeyes in the first-ever college playoff championship game against the Oregon Ducks, who won in a 59-20 blowout over the Florida State Seminoles. With the odds against them, it is likely that the Buckeyes also upset many a wager on the game, driving fans to wish they had voted against the odds and had instead enjoyed betting on the Ohio State Buckeyes Football team. The Buckeyes qualification into the first ever NCAAF CFP Championship game is certainly a credit to Ohio football.
Alabama allowed 537 yards of offense to an Ohio State team that had the team’s one-time third string signal caller, Cardale Jones, behind center. Jones, making just his second career start, threw for 243 yards, and was aided by the running of Ezekiel Elliott, who collected 230 yards on 20 carries for the night. Elliott’s biggest play of the night came with 3:24 left, when he broke off an 85-yard scoring run to give OSU what turned out to be the winning score.
The Tide answered with a six-play drive that made it 42-35 with 1:59 left. An onside kick failed, but Alabama got the ball back and gained 40 yards to the Ohio State 42 to set up the final play. Blake Sims’ pass was intercepted in the end zone to send the Buckeyes to their matchup with Oregon. Early on, the Crimson Tide seemed ready to turn the game into a blowout by taking a 21-6 advantage midway through the second quarter. They had countered field goals by Ohio State with a pair of touchdowns, then scored on a two-yard run by T.J. Yeldon with 8:07 to go before halftime.
What followed was 28 unanswered points from the Buckeyes, half of those coming on a pair of scores in the final three minutes of the first half. The first score came on a 12-play, 71-yard drive that followed the Yeldon score, capped by a three-yard Elliot run. Alabama then went three-and-out, giving Jones the ball back at the Buckeye 23 with just 1:32 remaining before intermission.
Three quick passes moved the ball 19 yards, and then Jones ran for 27 on his own to get to the Tide 13. A quick completion was followed by fancy footwork by OSU receiver Michael Thomas, who got one foot in bounds for a TD with 12 seconds left. That put the Buckeyes just one point behind at 21-20 and gave them momentum.
That surge continued on OSU’s first series of the second half, moving 75 yards in just 2:16 on a 47-yard toss from Jones to Devin Smith that gave them the lead for good. Then with 3:21 to go in the third, Buckeye defensive end Steve Miller dropped back into coverage and picked off Sims’ pass, returning it for the score to make it 34-21 Ohio State. The Crimson Tide battled back to score on the next drive, but defense finally took hold until Elliott’s crucial tally. Meyer now goes for his first title with OSU after capturing a pair with the Florida Gators.