Ohio State football: 2014 national championship 10-year anniversary, OSU vs. Cincinnati

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 national championship season, when the Ohio State football Buckeyes went 14-1 and captured the first College Football Playoff title. We'll relive that remarkable year by sharing the game stories from that campaign as they appeared in the pages of The Columbus Dispatch.

Now up: Ohio State's game against Cincinnati .

Offensive line paves the way

OSU dominates up front as it totals 710 yards

September 27, 2014

No one expected Cincinnati to be a typical in-state patsy for Ohio State .

With a high-powered offense led by quarterback Gunner Kiel, the Bearcats figured to have a puncher's chance against the Buckeyes.

A few Cincinnati haymakers did stagger Ohio State, but the Buckeyes' offense overwhelmed the Bearcats in a 50-28 victory in front of a record Ohio Stadium crowd of 108,362.

The No. 22 Buckeyes (3-1) had a school-record 45 first downs and briefly broke the school record for total yards before a late 20-yard loss caused them to settle for 710 yards, 8 short of the record.

Redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett again played with calmness and toughness, passing for 330 yards and four touchdowns.

Ezekiel Elliott ran 28 times for a career-high 182 yards and a touchdown.

Barrett was seldom touched in the pocket, and Buckeye runners were often untouched for several yards.

"We're an offensive-line-driven team, and they won the game for us," coach Urban Meyer said. "They controlled the line."

And, yet, because Kiel passed for 352 yards and four touchdowns – three on long scores to Chris Moore – Cincinnati (2-1) made it a game.

Ohio State led 30-7 early in the second quarter before the Bearcats closed to 33-28 on a 78-yard touchdown catch by Moore in the third quarter.

Meyer summed up his mood at that moment in one word.

"Pissed," he said. "Great teams don't do that. I don't want to take anything away from UC because UC is legitimate, probably the best throwing team we've faced since we've been here."

But this was not what Meyer had in mind when he hired Chris Ash to fix Ohio State's porous pass defense. The Buckeyes spent all offseason preparing for a test like this.

"Defensively, we're back to the drawing board in pass coverage," Meyer said. "A couple of corners got beat, and we gave up big plays. We've got to get that fixed. You can't play championship football until it gets fixed."

It could have been worse.

After a field goal by Ohio State pushed its lead to 36-28, Cincinnati got the ball back. From the Bearcats' 40, Kiel threw deep to Johnny Holton. Buckeyes cornerback Eli Apple grabbed Holton before Holton returned the favor, and a flag was thrown – on UC for offensive pass interference.

Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville was livid, and the call proved to be the final turning point in a game that had many. The 15-yard penalty put the Bearcats in a hole they couldn't escape, and they were forced to punt.

Ohio State then did what it did for most of the game – move the ball almost at will. Barrett threw to a wide-open Dontre Wilson for a 24-yard touchdown, and the Buckeyes were never threatened again.

The good and bad for Ohio State surfaced early. On the game's fourth play, Moore beat safety Vonn Bell in man-to-man coverage for a 60-yard touchdown.

But Ohio State's offense played almost flawlessly for the next 16 minutes, scoring touchdowns on its first four drives. Ohio State had 18 first downs on its first 32 snaps.

The defense added a safety when Joey Bosa drilled Kiel, forcing a fumble that the Bearcats swatted out of the end zone.

When Evan Spencer scored on a 19-yard pass with 12:34 left in the second quarter for a 30-7 lead, it looked like the blowout was on.

But then the Buckeyes got sloppy. Freshman running back Curtis Samuel fumbled at the Bearcats' 42, and Cincinnati capitalized. Kiel threw to Holton for a 19-yard touchdown with 5:23 left in the half.

Ohio State drove to Cincinnati's 45 before three straight Barrett passes were dropped, the last one an easy toss to Smith for what would have been a first down.

Cameron Johnston's punt was downed at Cincinnati's 3 with 1:51 left, and when the Bearcats took their time on their first three snaps, it looked like they were content to run out the clock. Ohio State sure seemed to think so.

But after a first down, Kiel threw deep to Moore, who beat Apple in one-on-one coverage and outran him to the end zone with 26 seconds left for an 83-yard touchdown.

The game was on, but Ohio State had the answers when it needed them.

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football: 2014 national championship 10-year anniversary, OSU vs. Cincinnati