Buckeye Bracket: Top OSU plays of the decade - QB Region

With everything in the sporting world shut down for likely the next few months, it gives us some time to reminisce on all the good times we’ve shared as Ohio State fans. While watching Buckeye football highlights to try and pass the self-quarantine boredom, it got me thinking: What is the best OSU play of the last decade?

Obviously, there is a nearly boundless amount of great plays from guys in Scarlet and Gray in the last 10 years, so it is hard to single out just one. That’s why I’m not doing it alone. Since there is no NCAA Tournament to fulfill our March Madness needs, we here at LGHL have put together a bracket of the 32 best plays in the last decade of Ohio State football, which you the fan will be able to vote on in the coming weeks as we look to crown a champion.

The bracket will be broken up into four regions, with the winner of each region competing in the Final Four before a championship matchup between the top two plays, as voted on by you guys. The regions are as follows: quarterback plays, running back plays, wide receiver plays, and defense/special teams plays.

Today, we will start with the quarterback section of the bracket, and will be releasing each of the other regions over the course of the week. Of course, with so many big plays in recent history, some may have gotten left out. We tried to focus on those that were the most flashy/came in the biggest games.

Voting for the first round will end this Saturday, with the second and third rounds continuing next week. Let’s get to debating!

Quarterback Region

Here’s how this region of the bracket shapes out. Now lets get into the matchups.

No. 1 Seed (Braxton’s lob vs. Wisconsin) vs. No. 8 Seed (Barrett’s 86-yard TD vs. Minnesota)

A tough first round matchup for our boy J.T. Barrett. Braxton Miller escapes the pocket and finds Devin Smith deep downfield in the end zone to win the game over a No. 15 Wisconsin team led by Russell Wilson. Likely the only bright spot in that 2011 season in which the team finished 6-7 under Luke Fickell, he matches up with Barrett’s 86-yard run to open up the scoring in what would be a seven-point win over the ranked Gophers in the snow in 2014.

No. 2 Seed (Braxton juke vs. Penn State) vs. No. 7 Seed (Fields 51-yd TD vs. FAU)

One of the most iconic plays from Miller’s electric career at Ohio State, he showcased his incredible athleticism with his shiftiness in the backfield en route to this sweet touchdown in a 35-23 victory over Penn State in 2012 — part of the team’s undefeated bowl-ban season. The challenger? Only Justin Fields taking his very first carry as a Buckeye 51 yards to the house to start what would be a phenomenal 2019 campaign for the first-year starter.

No. 3 Seed (Fields post-injury TD vs. UM) vs. No. 6 Seed (Braxton spin move vs. VT)

We have a real good No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup here. Justin Fields left the field with what looked like a devastating and potentially season-ending knee injury. However, just a few plays later, he returned to the field only to make a spectacular play scrambling out of the pocket and perfectly hitting Garrett Wilson in the end zone for a TD. Miller’s spin move TD is cheating a bit in this region, as he was technically in the game as the h-back, but it was just too silky of a move not to include.

No. 4 Seed (Braxton’s 53-yd TD vs. UM) vs. No. 5 Seed (Braxton’s 55-yd TD vs. Cal)

The human highlight reel Braxton Miller finds himself matched up against himself in the final matchup in the quarterback region. A pair of 50-plus yard TD runs from the explosive Buckeye signal caller, one at home in a 35-28 win over California in 2012, the other one the road at Michigan in a 42-41 win in the biggest rivalry in sports in 2013. Both similar runs with the same outcome, but one in a little more dramatic of a game. I suspect a runaway in this matchup of middle seeds.

Make sure to cast your vote for your favorite Ohio State quarterback play of the last decade. The winner of each region will advance to the Final Four as we continue our quest to crown the Buckeyes’ best.

Just a heads up — the polls sometimes don't load from the Twitter browser, but show up fine when accessing from the regular mobile browser or a desktop.