COLUMBUS, Ohio - As the quarantine continues to halt future installments of sports, let's once again dive into the past decade of Ohio State football.
In this blast from the past, we will take a look at the top performances from the quarterback, running back and wide receiver positions. This list will take into account the historic nature of the performance along with the magnitude of the stage.
Like the list of Ohio State's top-five games of the decade, this will be completely subjective, so make sure to leave your own take in the Horseshoe Lounge. Keep an eye out for a defensive version of this piece, but without further ado, here are the top offensive performances of the past decade.
Quarterback
Top Performance: Barrett's fourth quarter perfection against Penn State
On Oct. 28, 2017, J.T. Barrett was able to put together the most impressive performance of his decorated career at Ohio State. Facing a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter against No. 2 Penn State, Barrett and the Buckeyes had almost no room for error if they were to send the Nittany Lions home with a loss.
It is in the most dire moments that the great players seem to elevate their games to another level, and in the final quarter of a late October game in the Horseshoe, Barrett was able to will the Buckeyes to victory.
The three-time captain was able to connect on all 13 of his passes in the fourth quarter to rack up 170 passing yards and three touchdowns. In the final five minutes of the game, Barrett was able to lead the Buckeyes on back-to-back touchdown drives to give Ohio State its first lead of the game with 1:48 left in the game.
Barrett would finish the game with 328 passing yards and four touchdowns to go along with 95 rushing yards. The Buckeyes would win the game 39-38.
Given the magnitude of the moment paired with Barrett's heroic execution down the stretch, this moment took the top spot for the best performance from an Ohio State quarterback since 2010.
Runner Up: Haskins's near 500-yard game in the B1G Championship
Dwayne Haskins was a 400-yard passing machine, and Dec. 1, 2018 was no different. Haskins would finish his Ohio State career with five games with over 400 passing yards, and in the Big Ten championship game against Northwestern, Haskins would set both a career high and a school record with 499 passing yards.
In 2018, the offense went as Haskins went, and he was operating at an all-time high in Indianapolis. Not only would he rack up nearly 500 passing yards, but Haskins would throw for five touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes over the Wildcats.
His touchdown throws would find the hands of four different Buckeyes, as Terry McLaurin would be the only receiver to haul in two scores. Haskins would go on to be the Big Ten championship game's most valuable player, and he would cap off his historic season with a win out in Pasadena, California.
Running Back
Top Performance: Elliott's historic three-game stretch
This selection may be a little bit of cheating, but it was too hard to pick between Ezekiel Elliott's final three games of his sophomore season. Heading into the 2014 Big Ten championship game, Elliott had yet to log a 200-yard rushing game in his career, but the soon-to-be legend would elevate his game to an all-time-great level when the Buckeyes needed him most.
With J.T. Barrett having gone down with a season-ending injury against Michigan, Ohio State needed a lot of its playmakers to step up in order to keep the title hopes alive. No player was able to step up bigger than Elliot, who would rush for 696 yards and eight touchdowns in the Ohio State's three postseason games.
Against Wisconsin, Elliott would kick off his stretch with 220 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns to help the Buckeyes impress the committee and earn a bid into the playoff.
In the following game against Alabama, Elliott was able to continue his positive momentum with a 230-yard rushing game on only 20 carries. Elliott would rush for two touchdowns against the Crimson Tide.
To cap off his historic run, Elliott would set a then-career high of 246 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns against Oregon in the national championship game.
Elliott's stretch will go down as one of the most most impressive string of games to win a national championship in both Ohio State and college football history.
Runner Up: Dobbins's four touchdowns against Michigan
The runner-up spot was very difficult to determine, because one performance was statistically more impressive but another came on a bigger stage. While Carlos Hyde's performance of 246 rushing yards and five total touchdowns against Illinois back Nov. 16, 2013 was impressive, J.K. Dobbins's big performance came in The Game against a much tougher Michigan team.
Dobbins had the single-best rushing season of any Buckeye in history, so it felt almost criminal to leave him out of this piece entirely. Dobbins's 2019 season was filled with impressive performances, and his four touchdowns against Michigan was good enough to earn the runner-up spot for the decade.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dobbins was able to help Ryan Day and the Buckeyes down the Wolverines by rushing for a career-high 211 yards. The Buckeyes would rout Michigan 56-27
Wide Receiver
Top Performance: Brown's touchdown explosion against Oklahoma
There were performances from three different wideouts that could make a case for the top spot on this list, but in the end it was Noah Brown's four touchdowns in Norman, Oklahoma that took the crown.
Heading into a hostile environment, No. 3 Ohio State was able to receive a huge lift from Brown to down No. 14 Oklahoma. Brown's four touchdowns, which would increase Ohio State's lead from 14-7 to 42-17, would tie an Ohio State record for most touchdown receptions in a single game.
Brown would finish the game with five catches for 72 yards to go along with his touchdowns.
The value of the unexpected production in a big moment could not be overstated, as the Buckeyes were able to use the win to bolster a resumé that earned Ohio State a spot in the playoff.
It is odd for a player that finished his career with only seven receiving touchdowns to own the top wideout performance of the decade, but Brown was able to catch fire against the Sooners to sit atop the list.
Runner Up: Smith's big-play ability kills Wisconsin
As was stated before, there were three performances that could have been slotted in the two available spots. Brown's showing was good enough to edge out the other two for the top spot, but the runner-up position came down to Devin Smith's performance against Wisconsin in the 2014 Big Ten title game and Parris Campbell's 192 receiving yards against Michigan in 2018.
While Campbell's was mighty impressive, it was Smith's performance that changed Ohio State's season in a monumental way.
Smith was able to haul in the trio of touchdowns to go along with 137 yards, and this explosion helped Cardale Jones and the Buckeyes show the world that they could perform at a high level without their starting quarterback.
Smith's big-play ability allowed Jones to fire the ball downfield and give the Buckeyes a nice deep threat to compliment Elliott's running ability.
The 59-0 drumming of Wisconsin would allow the Buckeyes to advance to the inagural playoff, which they would go on to win.