All the points in the game were scored in the first half with J.T. Barrett rushing for the other two Buckeye touchdowns.
Ohio State finishes the season with a record of 12-2 with a Big Ten championship and a Cotton Bowl victory,
The Buckeyes return to action on September 1st in Columbus against Oregon State...
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1) It's kind of strange, you finish 12-2, win the conference title, win a Cotton Bowl and it still feels a little disappointing to me.
I was on Facebook earlier before the game commenting with Ian McArdle as we bantered about the game, Ryan jumped in and commented that "you guys are spoiled" and maybe to a degree we are as fans of the Buckeyes, but still, we lost something on that day in Iowa City for the 2017 season and there was no getting it back.
2) It was the end of the J.T. Barrett era in Dallas after this game and that can be read with either exuberance or resignation.
I would imagine that plenty of Buckeye fans would line up on both sides of the Buckeye tree of that argument.
Barrett might look better in hindsight than he does now, but I still suspect that in the era of really great players going pro early, it's going to be the merely good players setting the career records at schools like Ohio State with more games on the schedule and bowl games now counting on the statistical sheet.
3) Ohio State's offense under Barrett really didn't click all night with only one scoring drive over sixty yards- an 83 yard drive that ended in a Sean Nuernberger field goal.
Barrett's offense was downright inept in the second half against the Trojans in gaining just three first downs in the second half- one of the three on a pass interference penalty.
4) Damon Webb's Pick Six and his fumble recovery that set up a nineteen-yard scoring drive were all the points that Ohio State needed on this night.
Perhaps Damon Webb will be the next defensive back to step up as the featured star at DB U, but there is not a "perhaps" on this- Damon Webb was the deserving MVP of the Cotton Bowl.
5) The currently featured star in the Buckeye secondary decided to pass on playing in the Cotton Bowl as the team announced before the game that Denzel Ward would be skipping the contest.
I understand why Ward wouldn't want to take a chance on an injury before the NFL draft, I really do.
However, if you aren't part of the team that is participating in the game, if I was running the program, you wouldn't be on the sidelines as part of the program.
6) Key to this win-the Buckeye defense with eight sacks and fourteen tackles for loss.
The relentless rush gave Sam Darnold zero chance to throw and gave the Trojan offense little opportunity to do much of anything through that took any more than a second to develop.
Darnold just had no time to throw.
7) Let's talk Sam Darnold.
Of the quarterbacks entering the draft, I liked Darnold and Josh Rosen the best.
I read lots of ripping Darnold after this game on Twitter and yes the pick six to Damon Webb wasn't the greatest throw in the world, but watch the replay, his receiver gave him next to no help at all and besides every quarterback makes a bad throw once in a while.
Darnold had no time to throw and even with all that was against him in this game, he still threw for 356 yards.
Want to know why tonight wasn't a huge coming out party for Darnold?
Try the best defensive line in the country against one of the worst offensive lines in the nation and see how any quarterback gets anything done.
I still like Darnold- he needs time to develop and the Browns would be best suited to find a veteran to play in 2018 to be the bridge person to teach Sam a bit, but I'm still a believer for the Browns to take Sam Darnold...
8) I've watched a lot of Pac 12 football this season, probably more than I have ever watched and I have to say this- the USC offensive line is the worst offensive line for a top ten team that I have seen in years and maybe ever.
When people criticize Sam Darnold for the season that he has had they haven't seen more than a game or two.
Harrassed constantly, forced to throw on the run and taking hit after hit, the stunning part to me is that Darnold and USC won the Pac 12 with a line that bad.
9) The Buckeyes didn't get a lot accomplished on the ground though as J.K. Dobbins rushed for just 39 yards on 13 carries and Mike Weber carried five times for 18.
Weber's role was likely light because he wasn't needed and he'll likely declare for the draft, but USC's run defense is strong and the game really came down to those first half turnovers.
10) This was actually a pretty dull game outside of the Webb interception.
The most exciting thing might have been the pushing match after the Malik Harrison late hit on Sam Darnold out of bounds.
The hit was late and give Darnold credit for trying to be a peacemaker afterward when things started to break loose.
It just wasn't a fun game to watch, although a boring win beats an exciting loss any day.
11) Another question is after this win, how do I feel about the Buckeyes not making it into the playoff now?
Same as before- I think they would have been underdogs to all four teams and despite a great defensive effort against USC, I'm doubtful that a J.T. Barrett led offense could put enough points on the points on the board to defeat any of the four playoff teams.
Could I see a scenario where this Buckeye defense dominates any of those four enough to beat them?
Yes, it's possible, but it's more likely that Ohio State would come short.
12) Now we look towards 2018 and what to expect.
Ohio State will lose some players on defense Sam Hubbard and Denzel Ward for sure, maybe a few others with J.T. Barrett, Billy Price on offense the major losses.
Dwayne Haskins will be favored to replace Barrett at QB but will have to beat out Joe Burrow and Tate Martell and there will be another great recruiting class coming into Columbus.
The major non-conference test will be TCU back at Jerry World, in conference, the Buckeyes get Michigan at home, but will travel to East Lansing and State College in games against the Spartans and Nittany Lions and the interesting out of division tests looks to be Nebraska at home with their new coach Scott Frost and at Purdue with Jeff Brohm looms as a possible trap game.
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