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Alabama vs Ohio State final score: Buckeyes beat Crimson Tide in instant classic at Sugar Bowl, 42-35

By Patrick Schmidt

Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) runs a touchdown past Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Cyrus Jones (5) during the fourth quarter in the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) runs a touchdown past Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Cyrus Jones (5) during the fourth quarter in the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sugar Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes more than lived up to expectations and gave us an instant classic in the second of two College Football Playoff games on New Year’s Day.

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Ezekiel Elliott led Ohio State to a win in the Sugar Bowl over Alabama in an instant classic of a game and will face Oregon in the national championship.

Ohio State got on the board first after forcing a three-and-out from Alabama on their first possession. Alabama boasts the No. 1 rushing defense in the nation, allowing an average of 88.69 yards per game, but the Buckeyes ran for 80 on six carries on their first drive.

Elliott did the bulk of the damage with a 54-yard run, the longest the Crimson Tide had allowed all year, to get the Buckeyes to the Alabama, but the drive stalled after Cardale Jones ran for no gain and threw two incompletions. Ohio State settled for a 22-yard field goal from Sean Nuernberger to take a 3-0 lead.

Ohio State forced a second straight three-and-out as Alabama played without starting running back T.J. Yeldon and  following a 73-yard punt from JK Scott, the Buckeyes went back to Elliott who ripped off a 17-yard run, but was stripped by Eddie Jackson and Landon Collins recovered the fumble at the Ohio State 33. Elliott would be the first player to run for 100 yards since Tre Mason in last year’s Iron Bowl won by Auburn.

Two plays later Derrick Henry galloped in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown to give Alabama a 7-3 lead.

Ohio State gave the ball right back to Elliott on the ensuing possession and he responded with two carries for 13 yards and Jones picked up 20 on a scramble, but the Alabama defense stood tall when the Buckeyes got near the goal line and forced another Ohio State field goal after the drive stalled at the Alabama four.

Yeldon made his first appearance on Alabama’s fourth offensive drive and picked up nine yards on his only carry of the first quarter before giving way to Henry as Alabama ran for 39 yards on the drive that culminated with Biletnikoff Award winner, Amari Cooper hauling in a 15-yard touchdown reception to give Alabama a 14-6 lead.

The second quarter opened with the two teams trading punts but Ohio State couldn’t get anything going in the air as Jones and his wide receiver Devin Smith who never looked for the ball as Jones was picked off by Cyrus Jones who returned the pick 32 yards to the Buckeye 15.

A pair of short passes to Brian Vogler had Alabama on the precipice of the goal line where Yeldon did the dirty work. Yeldon ran the ball three straight times, including picking up a fourth-and-one and scoring from two yards to give Alabama a 21-6 lead.

Ohio State faced a critical drive to close the end of the first half and Elliott and Jones responded well to the challenge as they marched 71 yards on 12 plays to get in the end zone for the first time on the night after Elliott plunged in from three yards out.

Jones had two 26-yard completions on the drive, both to Jalin Marshall to move the chains against a vulnerable Crimson Tide secondary.

Ohio State seized momentum after forcing a three-and-out as JK Scott punted for the fourth time and Jones looked as comfortable as he has all game mixing in the run with the pass on the ensuing possession.

Jones completed his first three passes for 37 yards as the Buckeyes offense looked fully in command against the stout Alabama defense. Jones showed off his wheels with a 27-yard run through the heart of the Tide defense to the Alabama 13 that set the stage for some trickeration from Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes.

A wide receiver reverse pass from Evan Spencer to Michael Thomas who managed to get one foot in bounds got Ohio State within one as the Buckeyes trailed 21-20 at halftime following the sensational pitch and catch from a pair of wide receivers.

Ohio State began the second half just as the first half ended. Jones began with two short passes to Michael Thomas and Elliott ran for seven yards to the Alabama 49 and two plays later Jones had his longest pass play of the day, connecting with Devin Smith for a 47-yard touchdown after Eddie Jackson fell down at the end of the play and Ohio State had their first lead since it was 3-0.

Alabama showed some signs offensively midway through the third quarter with a 10-yard run from Yeldon and a 21-yard gain from Henry, but Blake Sims made a poor decision to throw into coverage and was picked off by Steve Miller who returned the interception 41 yards for an Ohio State touchdown.

The Buckeyes had scored 28 unanswered points and had all the momentum in the world but credit Alabama for showing the championship resolve to respond with a seven-play, 84-yard drive that only took 2:20 to get in the end zone. The key play on the drive was a 52-yard catch and run by Henry and the touchdown went to Sims who kept it on a quarterback keeper for the five-yard touchdown to make it a 34-28 ball game.

Alabama had suddenly taken the best punch from Ohio State and was left standing with only a little blood on their chin and delivered a big blow back to the Buckeyes to make it a one-possession game for the fourth quarter.

After Alabama forced a punt from inside their own goal line and Cameron Johnston had an unfortunate bounce, the net gain was a 21-yard punt as Alabama took over from the Ohio State 23 and already in field goal range. On the first play of the drive Sims dropped back and was intercepted by Vonn Bell at the one-yard line.

The interception took the wind out of the sails of Alabama who didn’t get the monster plays they had all year from Amari Cooper and didn’t run the ball as often as they should have with Henry running like a man possessed.

Alabama still had a shot after a Scott punt pinned Ohio State at their five yard line, but one play after Jones picked up a crucial third down, Elliott burst through the Alabama defense for an 85-yard touchdown run, the longest play given up by Alabama all year to five them a 42-28 lead with 3:24 remaining following the two-point conversion.

Alabama would answer with a six-yard touchdown reception to Cooper, but it was too little and too late for Alabama who would not recover the onside kick after Evan Spencer skied to bring it down with 1:57 remaining.

Ohio State left time on the clock after throwing on first down instead of bleeding the clock or forcing Alabama to use one of their two remaining timeouts so Alabama had 93 seconds to go 76 yards to tie the game and force overtime, albeit with no timeouts.

Sims would lead Alabama to the Ohio State 42, but after mismanaging the clock early in the possession were forced to rely on a Hail Mary that was intercepted in the end zone by Tyvis Powell to end the game and send the Buckeyes to the national championship game against Oregon.

Elliott ran for a Sugar Bowl record 230 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries against the No. 1 rush defense in the nation who had allowed an average of 88 yards per game, and was the first player to run for more than 200 yards in a game since Auburn’s Cadillac Williams ran for 204 in 2003.

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