Buckeyes And Browns Both Win In Thrilling Weekend Of Football
By @MarkW2112
Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1), perhaps looking ahead to Michigan week, looked a little lost against Indiana for 3 quarters but thanks to freshman H back Jalin Marshall were able to overcome their mistakes with a 42-27 victory that may have solidified the number 5 spot in the Playoff committee's rankings on Tuesday. J.T. Barrett may not have had his best game against a surprisingly tough Hoosier defense but he was good enough to lead the Buckeyes once again to victory with 302 passing yards and 4 touchdowns to also go along with 2 interceptions. Ezekiel Elliot finished with 107 yards rushing on 13 carries, good enough to get him over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. But it was Marshall who helped saved the Buckeyes. Down 20-14 in the third quarter, Marshall took back a 54 yard punt return for a touchdown to make it 21-20. After that, Marshall scored the next 3 Buckeyes touchdowns, including a phenomenal one handed grab, that sealed the victory for the Bucks.
Indiana (3-8) were able to keep up with the Buckeyes thanks to fantastic running back Tevin Coleman, who had 228 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, one of which on a 90 yard run. The Buckeyes defense had it's issues once again but were able to withstand just enough to allow the offense to get themselves together and score 28 unanswered points before Coleman's last touchdown with 1:08 left in the game.
My take: the Buckeyes heads obviously weren't in this game. Indiana took advantage of it and made the Bucks come back and win it. With the win, the Buckeyes were crowned the Big 10 East champions and headed back to the Big 10 Championship game. The 4 touchdowns by Barrett tied him with Drew Brees for the most touchdowns by any Big 10 quarterback with 42 total touchdowns this year. The red shirt freshman has been outstanding this year and proven he is the future quarterback of the Buckeyes.
Next game: the big one with That School Up North, Saturday at noon at the Horseshoe
Browns
The Cleveland Browns surprising 2014 campaign made a stop in Atlanta today against the Falcons. And wow, what a thrilling one it was! The Browns win 26-24 on a last second field goal by Billy Cundiff after an unbelievable 61 yard drive engineered by Brian Hoyer with 44 seconds left and 3 timeouts.
The game started with the return of wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was able to accumulate 120 passing yards in his first official game since last year. Hoyer appeared to be targeting Gordon much of the game and while their chemistry was off a bit, they did have some big plays together. The other big story of the game was the running of Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West, who together combined for 150 yards rushing. Crowell scored both of the Browns touchdowns, including a 26 yard run that showed his athleticism and burst of speed. Hoyer was 23-of-40 for 330 yards but his 3 interceptions were a black eye before the last second drive took all of it away. With big catches by Gordon, Miles Austin and Gary Barnidge, they were able to perhaps save the Browns season along with Hoyer's starting job. Before that last drive, Hoyer's last interception lead the Falcons to take the lead 24-23 on a 53 yard field goal by Matt Bryant.
The Browns defense were able to keep the rushing yards down, giving up a season low 63 yards rushing, 34 from Steven Jackson. Matt Ryan was 27-of-43 for 273 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. The worst news for the Browns defense might have been the injury to sensational safety Tashaun Gipson, who had to be carted out of the stadium with a leg injury. It would be a big blow to the Browns secondary.
My Take: This team once again proved to be the Kardiac Kids Part II. Brian Hoyer was able to redeem himself once again after 3 terrible turnovers with the incredible last second drive to set up Billy Cundiff field goal to win the game. Josh Gordon is only going to get better and that's scary for the rest of the teams the Browns face. If Tashaun Gipson were to miss the rest of the season, it's a blow to the secondary. But on the plus side, the Browns were able to stay tough in the face of adversity and ultimately win the game. It's one more step for Mike Pettine and his staff to create a winning atmosphere in Cleveland. If he keeps this up, Pettine could win coach of the year with Ray Farmer executive of the year for his fantastic draft finds in Isaiah Crowell and defensive back K'Waun Williams, both undrafted free agents who have made huge impacts for this team.
Quick note: as I mentioned earlier about the Kardiac Kids, Brian Hoyer was the first Browns quarterback to throw for consecutive 300 yard passing games since Brian Sipe in 1980.
Next game: against the Buffalo Bills, either in Buffalo or somewhere else, depending on if they were able to remove the massive amounts of snow.
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