COLUMBUS – Ohio State survived without starting quarterback J.T. Barrett in a 28-14 win over Minnesota on Saturday night.
But that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes didn’t at times miss Barrett, who was suspended one game after being cited for operating a vehicle while impaired during OSU’s bye week last Saturday.
Ohio State (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) got its 22nd win in a row but its offense started slowly and struggled to operate at peak efficiency much of the night.
It also got a bit of a scare from Minnesota (4-5, 1-4 Big Ten) when the Gophers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns after OSU went up 21-0. But a 38-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cardale Jones with 1:53 to play made it 28-14 and finally put the game away.
OSU had 377 yards total offense, 87 yards short of its season average, and fell short of its Big Ten-leading average of 38.5 points a game.
Ezekiel Elliott (26 carries, 114 yards) led Ohio State’s offense and went over 100 yards rushing for the fourteenth game in a row. The last team to hold him under 100 yards was Minnesota last year. Jones was 12 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Slow starts have been the rule rather than the exception for OSU this season, but this one was particularly sluggish.
In the first 25 minutes of the game, the Buckeyes had only 60 yards total offense and punted four straight times.
But in the last 4:53 of the first half they got two touchdowns – one by the defense and the other at the end of a seven-play, 77-yard drive that looked nothing like what the offense had produced until then.
Vonn Bell’s 16-yard interception return for a touchdown with 4:53 left in the first half broke up a scoreless game and provided a spark for OSU.
It took a replay review to get the points on the scoreboard, though, after an official called targeting on OSU linebacker Joshua Perry. The replay official determined that the targeting call should be reversed and the touchdown stood.
After stopping Minnesota, the tentative Jones of the first 25 minutes was replaced by something close to the 2014 version, which helped OSU win the national championship.
Jones hit all three passes he threw during the scoring drive, including a 44-yarder to Jalin Marshall, and he scrambled for a 19-yard gain for a first down.
After Marshall’s catch, Ezekiel Elliott went 15 yard for a touchdown with 54 seconds left in the first half for a 14-0 lead.
Ohio State pushed the lead to 21-0 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Michael Thomas with 6:43 left in the third quarter.
Minnesota cut the lead to 21-7 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Leidner to K.J. Maye with 10:25 to play in the game, then made it 21-14 on a 10-yard throw from Leidner to Rashad Still with 2:10 left.
