Sweet as Sugar: Buckeyes upset Alabama 42-35

NEW ORLEANS — Cardale Jones came through again at the Sugar Bowl. Ezekiel Elliott ran all over mighty Alabama. And Urban Meyer’s quest to turn Ohio State into SEC North is one victory away from a national championship.

Jones turned in another savvy performance in his second college start and Elliott ran for 230 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a 42-35 upset of top-ranked Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal Thursday night.

Rallying from a 21-6 deficit, the Buckeyes (13-1) advanced to play Oregon in the Jan. 12 national championship game at Arlington, Texas. The Ducks routed defending national champion Florida State 59-20 in the other semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

Jones threw for 243 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown to Devin Smith that put the Buckeyes ahead for good early in the third quarter. He also ran for 43 yards and converted a crucial third-down play with a spinning, 1-yard dive and Ohio State clinging to a 34-28 lead.

On the next play, Elliott took a handoff, broke one feeble attempt at a tackle, and was gone for an 85-yard touchdown that essentially clinched the victory with 3:24 remaining.

Alabama (12-2) was denied a shot at its fourth national title in six years, though the Tide didn’t go down quietly.

Blake Sims threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 1:59 remaining. The Buckeyes recovered the onside kick, but Alabama got it back one more time after some questionable clock management by Ohio State.

The Tide’s final shot ended when Sims’ desperation heave into the end zone was intercepted as time ran out.

Meyer, who led Florida to a pair of national titles, left coaching for a year before taking over at Ohio State in 2012. He said his goal was to build the sort of Southeastern Conference powerhouse he had with the Gators, and he knew a faster, more athletic style would be needed to bring the Big Ten school up to par.

Now, after just three years on the job, he’s one victory away from fulfilling his ultimate goal.

“We’re good enough,” Meyer said. “That was a sledgehammer game. That was a classic. So, we are good enough.”

Jones started fall practice as Ohio State’s third-string quarterback, moved up the depth chart when star Braxton Miller sustained a season-ending shoulder injury, and became the starter for the Big Ten championship game after J.T. Barrett went down with an injury.

A 59-0 rout of Wisconsin showed that Jones was up to the job. His performance against Alabama gives him a chance to go down as one of the greatest replacement players in college football history.

Alabama hardly looked like the defensive powerhouse that coach Nick Saban is used to sending out, giving up 537 yards to the Buckeyes. Elliott scored on a 3-yard run with 2:55 left in first half to spark the comeback, and he wound up averaging a staggering 11.5 yards on 20 carries.

“He’s probably the most underrated back in the United States,” Meyer said.

For the second year in a row, Alabama’s season ended at the Sugar Bowl.

This one was especially painful, costing the Tide a chance to advance in college football’s first playoff. It also means the SEC will not be part of the national title game for the first time in nine years, the surest sign that the guard is changing.

“I’m proud of this team,” Saban said. “They excelled all year long and kept Alabama at the forefront of college football.”

But he never liked the feel of the game, even after Alabama raced to its early lead, taking advantage of a pair of turnovers and coming up with a pair of red-zone stops.

“We really weren’t stopping them. We had the momentum of the game because of the turnovers,” Saban said. “We did not control the football game like we usually do.”

No. 5 OHIO STATE 42, No. 1 ALABAMA 35

Ohio St. 6 14 14 8–42

Alabama 14 7 7 7–35

First Quarter

OSU–FG Nuernberger 22, 11:32. Key Play: Elliott 11 run, Ca.Jones 20 run on 3rd-and-8, Ca.Jones 40 pass to D.Smith. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 2:26. Ohio St. 3, Alabama 0.

Ala–Henry 25 run (Griffith kick), 9:25. Key plays: Landon fumble recovery on Ohio St. 33, Sims 8 run. Drive: 2 plays, 33 yards, :28. Alabama 7, Ohio St. 3.

OSU–FG Nuernberger 21, 5:17. Key plays: Ca.Jones 12 run, Marshall 13 run, Elliott 54 run. Drive: 11 plays, 71 yards, 4:08. Alabama 7, Ohio St. 6.

Ala–Cooper 15 pass from Sims (Griffith kick), 2:06. Key plays: Henry 11 run and a Ohio St. Personal Foul Penalty by Apple puts the ball on Alabama 47, Sims 10 pass to Fowler. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 3:05. Alabama 14, Ohio St. 6.

Second Quarter

Ala–Yelden 2 run (Griffith kick), 8:07. Key Plays: Cy.Jones interception return to Ohio St. 15, Yelden 3 run on 4th-and-1. Drive: 5 plays, 15 yards, 2:02. Alabama 21, Ohio St. 6.

OSU–Elliott 3 run (Nuernberger kick), 2:55. Key plays: Ca.Jones 26 pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-10, Ca.Jones 26 pass to Marshall on 3rd-and-9. Drive: 12 plays, 71 yards, 5:07. Alabama 21, Ohio St. 13.

OSU–Thomas 13 pass from Spencer (Nuernberger kick), :12. Key play: Ca.Jones 14 pass to Thomas, Ca.Jones 18 pass to Vannett; Ca.Jones 27 run. Drive: 6 plays, 77 yards, 1:20. Alabama 21, Ohio St. 20.

Third Quarter

OSU–D.Smith 47 pass from Ca.Jones (Nuernberger kick), 12:44. Key plays: Ca.Jones passes of 11 and 8 to Thomas. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 2:16. Ohio St. 27, Alabama 21.

OSU–S.Miller 41 interception return for a touchdown (Nuernberger kick), 3:21. Ohio St. 34, Alabama 21.

Ala–Sims 5 run (Griffith kick), 1:01. Key plays: Sims 15 pass to Cooper, Sims 52 pass to Henry. Drive: 7 plays, 84 yards, 2:15. Ohio St. 34, Alabama 28.

Fourth Quarter

OSU–Elliott 85 run (Thomas pass from Ca.Jones), 3:24. Key plays Ca.Jones 1 run on 3rd-and-1. Drive: 4 plays, 95 yards, 2:00. Ohio St. 42, Alabama 28.

Ala–Cooper 6 pass from Sims (Griffith kick), 1:59. Key plays: Sims 51 pass to White, Sims 6 pass to White. Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 1:17. Ohio St. 48, Alabama 35

A–74,682.

OSU Ala

FIRST DOWNS 23 21

Rushing 12 12

Passing 10 8

Penalty 1 1

NET YARDS RUSHING 281 170

Rushes Attempts 42 34

Rushing yards 335 193

Rushing yards-lost 54 23

NET YARDS PASSING 256 237

Completed-Att. 19-36 22-36

Had Intercepted 1 3

TOTAL PLAYS 78 70

TOTAL YARDS 537 407

Avg Gain 6.9 5.8

FUMBLES-Lost 2-1 0-0

PENALTIES-Yds 4-24 4-36

PUNTS-Avg. 6-46.5 7-55.0

Punts Returns 2-10 2-10

Kickoffs Returns 2-23 7-102

Interceptions 3-77 1-32

THIRD DOWN EFF 10-18 2-13

FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 2-2

Sacks by 3-17 3-21

TIME OF POSSESSION 31:19 28:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Ohio St., Elliott 20-230, C.Jones 17-43, Marshall 3-11, Samuel 1-1, Brown 1-(minus 4). Alabama, Henry 13-95, Yeldon 10-47, B.Sims 10-29, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING–Ohio St., C.Jones 18-35-1-243, Spencer 1-1-0-13. Alabama, B.Sims 22-36-3-237.

RECEIVING–Ohio St., M.Thomas 7-66, Marshall 5-55, D.Smith 2-87, Vannett 2-23, Elliott 1-13, Spencer 1-7, C.Smith 1-5. Alabama, Cooper 9-71, White 3-65, Henry 2-54, Fowler 2-14, Howard 2-14, Black 2-10, Vogler 2-9.

PUNT RETURNS–Ohio St., Marshall 2-10. Alabama, Ch.Jones 2-10.

KICKOFF RETURNS–Ohio St., Samuel 2-23. Alabama, Ch.Jones 7-102.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS–Ohio St., C.Grant 5-5-0, Bell 8-0-0, D.Grant 6-1-0, Lee 7-0-2, Apple 4-1-0, Perry 4-1-0, Bennett 2-2-1, Powell 2-1-0, Bosa 3-0-0, Conley 2-0-0, C.Smith 2-0-0, A.Washington 1-1-0, E.Smith 1-0-0, Samuel 1-0-0, Elliott 1-0-0, Dunn 1-0-0, Booker 1-0-0, C.Williams 1-0-0, S.Miller 1-0-0. Alabama, Collins 9-3-0, Ragland 2-5-0, N.Perry 5-1-0, G.Smith 4-2-0, DePriest 4-2-0, Dickson 5-0-1, Jackson 4-0-0, Reed 3-0-0, Cy.Jones 2-0-0, Foster 2-0-0, J.Williams 2-0-0, Devall 1-1-0, Robinson 2-0-0, Allen 2-0-1, Brown 1-0-0, Anderson 1-0-0, J.Washington 1-0-0, Fowler 1-0-0, Nysewander 1-0-0, Pettway 1-0-1, Howard 1-0-0.

INTERCEPTIONS–Ohio St., Bell 1-7, Miller 1-41. Alabama, Cy.Jones 1-32.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.

OFFICIALS–Referee Land Clark, Ump Matt Jordan, HL Bart Longson, LJ Tim Messuri, BJ Joe Johnston, SJ Ryan Dickson, FJ John Morton.

Time: 3:41.