College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio State 31, Minnesota 24
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 15, 2014
Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 15°
Head Official: Todd Geerlings
Attendance: 45778

No. 7 Ohio State 31, Minnesota 24: J.T. Barrett threw three touchdowns and rushed for another as the visiting Buckeyes scored 17 unanswered points to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Barrett threw for 200 yards and set a school single-game quarterback record with 189 rushing yards, including an 86-yard score on the Buckeyes’ second possession. Jalin Marshall, Michael Thomas and Evan Spencer caught TD passes for Ohio State (9-1, 6-0 Big Ten), which had 489 yards of total offense and won its eighth straight against the Gophers.

David Cobb rushed 27 times for 145 yards and three touchdowns, including a 30-yard run late in the second quarter to help Minnesota (7-3, 4-2) tie the game at 14. Mitch Leidner was 7-of-19 for 85 yards with two interceptions while star tight end Maxx Williams was limited to 47 yards on three receptions.

Barrett put Ohio State ahead 14-0 with a 57-yard TD pass to Marshall late in the first quarter and accounted for 310 yards of total offense in the first half. The Buckeyes took a 17-14 lead into the break and quickly took control on Barrett’s 30-yard TD pass to Thomas midway through the third quarter.

Minnesota, which was held to 303 yards of total offense, committed a costly turnover early in the fourth quarter as Vonn Bell intercepted Leidner, and Barrett quickly connected with a wide-open Spencer for a 22-yard score. Cobb scored on a 12-yard run with 7:08 left and the Gophers added a late Ryan Santoso field goal, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Minnesota's 24th loss in its last 25 games against Ohio State.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cobb became the first Gopher to rush for 10 touchdowns in a season since Amir Pinnix in 2006. … Ezekiel Elliott rushed 18 times for 91 yards for Ohio State, which has won 22 consecutive regular-season games in the Big Ten. … The teams committed a combined total of five turnovers in snowy conditions with a game-time temperature of 15 degrees.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Ohio State   Minnesota
J.T. Barrett Player David Cobb
17 Attempts 27
189 Yards 145
11.1 Avg Yards 5.4
1 Touchdowns 3
0 Long 0
Receiving
Ohio State   Minnesota
Jalin Marshall Player Maxx Williams
5 Receptions 3
95 Yards 47
19.0 Avg Yards 15.7
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Ohio State 489 289 200 4 1 2 4.0 1
Minnesota 303 218 85 3 1 1 1.0 1