Written by Chuck Culpepper at Washington Post.com
They had treated their nerves and their stomachs to that common excruciation of fandom, that of witnessing a beloved team slipping and climbing and whittling and slipping at a deficit that spent all day long howling and menacing. Then they had treated the backs of their necks to that uncommon exhilaration, that of the comeback that occurs after doom has been half-digested, the comeback from harsh scores such as 21-3 and 28-10 and 35-20 and then 38-27 with 5:42 left.
Yet as so many of the 109,302 here Saturday left their seats and their senses and streamed out onto the field in a big, delirious blob under a brooding Big Ten sky, after No. 6 Ohio State overcame No. 2 Penn State, 39-38, they had seen something else, beyond even a reminder that American college football is one of the most kaleidoscopic damned things extant. In a four-hour fray stuffed senseless with pivotal plays, they had seen a brilliance calm enough to look almost unnatural.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had more respect for a human being,” Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer said, before sorting back quickly through 31 coaching years and 202 head-coaching games to call it “one of the best [games] I’ve ever seen a quarterback play.”
That senior quarterback, J.T. Barrett, caused some numbers that looked as if from some dumb daydream. Ten months after his offense looked so hopeless in the national semifinal against Clemson, and seven weeks after it looked so hapless in a home loss to Oklahoma, and six weeks after — don’t be shocked — some fans recommended his ouster, he completed 33 of 39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions. He rushed 17 times for 95 more yards.
To continue reading this article, click here.
