Buckeye Bracket Sweet 16: QBs and RBs

Round one of our Buckeye Bracket has been completed, and we now advance to the Sweet 16. The first round provided a few upsets, but for the most part the higher seeds stood tall. We still have a ways to go before determining the best Ohio State play of the decade, but here is where things stand thus far:

We’ll move on today with matchups in the quarterback and running back regions, and continue on later this week with the wide receiver and defense/special teams region as you guys help us vote to determine the Elite Eight. Let’s get on with the voting!

Quarterback Region

Despite some stiff competition, we wound up with an all-Braxton Miller quarterback region. The biggest upset of the first round was Miller’s spin move beating out (rather handily) one of my personal favorite plays in the region in Justin Fields’ touchdown pass against Michigan after returning from injury. Will that silky spin be able to carry that momentum all the way through? Only one way to find out...

No. 1 Seed (Miller’s lob TD vs. Wisconsin) vs. No. 4 Seed (Miller’s TD run vs. UM)

Two great plays here in the second round of our tournament. Miller’s game-winning lob against Wisconsin is going to be incredibly tough to beat. That ridiculous play came against a No. 15 Badgers squad led by none other than Russell Wilson — ever heard of him? His challenger will put up a fight though, as any play that torches Michigan is a great play. Miller makes this 53-yd TD run look easy against the Wolverines back in 2013.

No. 2 Seed (Miller’s juke vs. Penn State) vs. No. 6 Seed (Miller’s spin move vs. Virginia Tech)

While the infamous spin move breezed through the first round, it faces much stiffer competition here in round two. Miller’s crazy moves in the backfield against Penn State is one of his most iconic plays at Ohio State, and one every big fan definitely remembers. As we said in the first round of the polls, the spin move play is a kind of cheating in this region, as Miller was technically in the game as the H-back here, but who am I to leave out such a highlight?

Running Back Region

Pretty much all chalk in the first round of this region besides the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup, although if I had to put a betting line on that game the five seed would’ve likely been at least -4. I have a hard time believing we wind up with anything in this section other than a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, but as they say, that is why we play the games...

No. 1 Seed (Zeke’s TD run vs. Alabama) vs. No. 5 Seed (Zeke’s first TD vs. Oregon)

Just a monumental play in the history of Ohio State football for so many reasons, Ezekiel Elliott’s 85-yard run through the heart of the south remains the odds-on favorite to win the whole damn thing. Without that play, the Buckeyes may not have gotten a chance to play the game featured in the challenger here against Oregon in the National Championship. While overmatched in this region, Zeke’s TD run on this play was part of a 246-yard, four-TD effort that led OSU to a national title in 2015.

No. 2 Seed (Samuel’s OT TD vs. UM) vs. No. 3 Seed (Hyde’s TD vs. Iowa)

Two very awesome plays in their own right, all four hopefuls in the running back region certainly deserve to be here. Curtis Samuel’s overtime game-winner is another iconic play in the recent history of Ohio State football. Just a few plays after the infamous “spot” by J.T. Barrett — which was obviously good — the Buckeyes walked it off to beat UM, as they usually do. Carlos Hyde’s run is phenomenal regardless of the situation or opponent, as he is able to literally bounce off would-be tacklers and regain his balance after stumbling backwards a few yards before diving into the end zone.

Make sure to cast your vote for your favorite Ohio State play of the last decade. The winners of this round will advance to the Elite Eight, which will take place at the start of next week. This week’s voting will close on Saturday at midnight.

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