Buckeyes Ex Tyvis Powell Reveals Secret To Ohio State's 2014 National Championship
The last two Ohio State Buckeyes national championships haven't come without some sort of hardship.
In 2002, Ohio State survived many close games headlined by the famous "Holy Buckeye" play. But in 2014, multiple injuries at the quarterback position to Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett really tested the culture of the Buckeyes' program. After an early regular-season home loss to Virginia Tech, former safety Tyvis Powell said Ohio State rallied around each other en route to hoisting the title.
"It's about love," Powell told safety Lathan Ransom in the latest edition of "Tradition Talk" Saturday. "I tell everybody, 'You want to know the secret recipe to winning the championship?' It's that I loved my brother and my teammate way more than you love yours. We loved each other. I don't want to let my teammates down. It means that much. I'll run through a brick wall."
Powell said sometimes he would have to stand at the line of scrimmage next to former defensive end Joey Bosa despite having "no business" being down in the box, but did so "because that's what it took to win."
"It was such a selflessness of that team and such a love for each other that it didn't matter who you played, we were going to find a way to win that game," Powell said. "It's about loving your teammate and making sure at the end of the game you can look your teammates in the eye and they know you gave it everything you had."
After Miller suffered his season-ending injury before the 2014 campaign, Powell said former head coach Urban Meyer asked the team how they would respond to the challenge.
Powell said the practices afterward had ramped-up intensity because the team was "so committed to trying to do something special."
After a slim victory against Navy and a loss to the Hokies, Ohio State rattled off four-consecutive victories against Kent State, Cincinnati, Maryland and Rutgers before a road matchup against Penn State that Powell said turned the Buckeyes' season around.
Ohio State had raced out to a 17-0 lead that was erased, as Penn State forced overtime at 17-all. The Buckeyes needed two overtime periods but emerged victorious, 31-24.
"During the course of that game, J.T. got hurt," Powell said. "A lot of people might not know this but J.T. messed up his knee or something where he could barely run the ball. Joey ended up getting the walk-off sack, but that game was the game that we found out no matter how good or bad things is going, this team will never give up."
Powell said as long as Barrett's "got a heartbeat," he would play, which made his injury against Michigan so nerve-wracking, as the Buckeyes weren't sure what third-string quarterback Cardale Jones could do in a game situation.
Jones went on to have arguably the most improbable three-game run of any player in college football history en route to the Buckeyes becoming the first national champions in the College Football Playoff era.
Powell's parting words for Ransom were ones of encouragement for the 2023 Buckeyes becoming the first national champions in nine years, offering first-hand experience on how a title-winning team will have a tight-knit bond for the rest of their lives.
"Get that Big Ten ring," he said. "Get that national championship ring bro 'cause I'm telling you now, that's something that nobody can ever take away from you. Every time you look at that ring, all you're going to say is, 'We did it.'"
Be sure to stay locked into BuckeyesNow all the time!
Join the BuckeyesNow community!
Subscribe to the BuckeyesNow YouTube channel
You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419
Follow BuckeyesNow on Twitter: @BuckeyesNow_FN
Follow BuckeyesNow on Instagram: @BuckeyesNow_FN
