Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from Rose Bowl win over Washington
In Urban Meyer’s final game as the Ohio State football coach, the Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead and held off a furious late surge by Washington.
From the opening gun, the Rose Bowl looked like a mismatch as Ohio State overwhelmed Washington in the Granddaddy of them All.
Befitting a Chris Petersen coached team, Washington refused to quit, fighting until the final whistle and staging a late rally to put doubt in the minds of the Buckeye faithful who thought they were in for stress-free viewing.
Heisman finalist Dwayne Haskins, as he did all season long, put the Buckeyes on his back and carried them to victory. He threw all of three of his touchdowns in the first half as Ohio State built what was fortunately an insurmountable lead.
Haskins was downright surgical in Pasadena, completing passes to nine different receivers. He helped the Buckeyes take a 21-3 lead at halftime, and then led them back down the field early in the third quarter, with sophomore RB J.K. Dobbins punching in a touchdown to make the score 28-3.
Washington made a late rally in the fourth quarter, overcoming a 28-3 deficit and nearly pulling off a shocking come-from-behind victory. They scored three fourth quarter touchdowns to pull within five points, the latest touchdown coming with 42-seconds remaining on the clock.
The onside kick went begging, allowing Ohio State to escape with a win that sent Urban Meyer off into the sunset.
The embattled coach, whose tenure in Columbus was marred by an ugly domestic violence scandal that complicated his legacy, and seemingly weighed on him all season long, finishes his coaching career as the third winningest coach in FBS history in terms of winning percentage.
Meyer won 85% of his games, a percentage that ranks behind only Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy, a pair of Notre Dame legends who coached in an era that was much more conducive to dominance and dynasties than any period of Meyer’s career.
The Buckeyes looked every bit like a playoff team for much of the evening, a fact that is no doubt frustrating to some Ohio State fans. Frustrating inconsistency plagued them throughout the 2018 season, culminating in an embarrassing 49-20 loss to Purdue in West Lafayette, and a near miss in Maryland where they escaped by a single point. The single loss, a blowout to 6-7 Purdue, was ultimately the impetus for their exclusion from the playoff field.
Ohio State finishes the season 13-1, with a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl victory serving as a nice consolation prize in Meyer’s final campaign, now beginning the transition to the Ryan Day era.
Washington finishes 10-4, a Pac-12 Championship masking the deficiencies the team had on offense. There’s reason for optimism in Seattle, though, with the hope of improved QB play coming in the form of Georgia transfer Jacob Eason with the erratic Jake Browning exhausting his eligibility.
Let’s take a look at three takeaway’s from Ohio State’s Rose Bowl win: