Instacap: Ohio State Blasts Bowling Green 77-10 in Season-Opener

Ohio State's crop of young talent looks like it might have a future.

J.T. Barrett accounted for seven touchdowns, Curtis Samuel scored three times, Mike Weber ran for over 100 yards and the Buckeyes totaled a new school record 776 yards of offense in a 77-10 blasting of Bowling Green on Saturday. 

Barrett's day ended midway through the third quarter. The redshirt junior quarterback was 21-for-31 passing for 349 yards and six touchdowns with one interception. Additionally, Barrett had six carries for 30 yards and a score. He connected with four different receivers for touchdown passes.

Two of those came to Samuel, who dazzled in his new heavily-featured role. The junior hybrid player from Brooklyn had 261 total yards — 13 carries for 84 yards and nine catches for 177 yards — and three total touchdowns. Senior wide receiver/running back Dontre Wilson also had a pair of touchdown catches for the sixth-ranked Buckeyes.

Weber, making his first career start, carried the ball 19 times for 136 yards.

Ohio State limited Bowling Green to just 244 total yards of offense and the Falcons gained just 69 on the ground. Redshirt sophomore Malik Hooker led the way with a pair of interceptions and true freshman Rodjay Burns made quite a debut with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Everything wasn't perfect for Ohio State on the day, however, especially at the start of the game. On the Buckeyes' first possession of the game, Barrett was intercepted by Bowling Green's Brandon Harris, who then returned it 63 yards to the house to put the Falcons ahead 7-0 early.

From then on, though, it was all Ohio State.

Barrett accounted for all five first-half touchdowns for the Buckeyes. His first was a 47-yard strike to K.J. Hill to tie the game at 7-all early in the first quarter.

Ohio State then tacked on back-to-back scores as Barrett found Dontre Wilson for a 25-yard touchdown and then Samuel for a 79-yard score to give the Buckeyes a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Noah Brown was next up, catching a 25-yard pass from Barrett before the Ohio State quarterback capped the first-half scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds remaining in the first half. The Buckeyes led 35-10 at the break and had 456 yards of offense in the first half. 

Ohio State will next be in action 3:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Tulsa.

Game Notes

• The attendance of 107,193 marked the eighth-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history.
• Urban Meyer improves to 155-27 in his career and maintains the highest winning percentage (.852) among active coaches.
• Meyer is 55-5 in his career in games played in August and September.
• Ohio State is 114-9-4 all-time in home openers and has won 37 of its last 38 home openers.
• The 77 points scored are the most by an Ohio State team since a 76-0 win over Florida A&M Sept. 21, 2013.
• Ohio State recorded a school-record 776 yards of total offense. The previous high was 718 vs. Mount Union in 1930. The 776 yards and 77 points are the most by an Urban Meyer-coached team in his career.
• The Buckeyes’ 417 passing yards rank fourth-most in a single game in school history. The total is the most since throwing for 387 at Indiana in 2003.
• Ohio State recorded 41 first downs, a total that ranks second in program history behind the 45 first downs the Buckeyes tallied in 2014 vs. Cincinnati.
• The game marked the first time the Buckeyes rushed and passed for at least 300 yards since rushing for 380 and passing for 330 vs. Cincinnati Sept. 27, 2014.
• Ohio State held a 38:35-21:25 advantage in time of possession vs. Bowling Green.
• Ohio State recorded 456 yards of total offense in the first half. The last time the Buckeyes gained more than 400 yards of total offense in a half was when they tallied 414 yards in the first half against Penn State Oct. 26, 2013.
• J.T. Barrett finished the day responsible for an Ohio State-record seven touchdowns, including six passing and one rushing. Barrett broke a record (6) he shared with Kenny Guiton and Tony Curcillo. The contest marked the sixth time Barrett accounted for at least five touchdowns in a game in his career.
• Barrett threw for six touchdowns in the game, tying a record he shared with Kenny Guiton. Barrett also threw for six touchdown passes against Kent State Sept. 13, 2014, while Guiton threw for six vs. Florida A&M Sept. 21, 2013.
• Barrett passed for a career-high 349 yards, breaking his previous high of 330 set vs. Cincinnati Sept. 27, 2014.
• K.J. Hill’s 47-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was the first of his career after redshirting a season ago.
• Dontre Wilson’s 25-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter marked his sixth career touchdown catch, seventh total touchdown and first since a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter at Michigan State in 2014.
• Curtis Samuel’s 79-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter was the longest reception of his career.
• The touchdown pass from Barrett to Samuel put Barrett over 4,000 career passing yards. The junior becomes the 11th Buckeye to achieve the feat.
• Mike Weber rushed for 136 yards in his first career game, becoming the first Buckeye freshman running back to rush for 100 yards in a game since Ezekiel Elliott ran for 162 yards against Florida A&M Sept. 21, 2013. Barrett also rushed for 189 yards in a game as quarterback his redshirt freshman season at Minnesota Nov. 15, 2014.
• Samuel’s totals of nine receptions and 177 receiving yards each set a career high. Samuels’s 261 all-purpose yards are the 12th-most in a single game in program history.
• Malik Hooker’s second-quarter interception was the first of his career. The redshirt sophomore picked off another pass in the third
• quarter, becoming the first Buckeye with two interceptions in a game since Doran Grant tallied two interceptions against Wisconsin Dec. 6, 2014.
• Joe Burrow connected with Demario McCall for a 36-yard touchdown pass, marking the first touchdown pass for Burrow and the first touchdown reception for McCall as a Buckeye.
• McCall recorded his first touchdown run on a 16-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
• Rodjay Burns returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for his first career interception.
• Nine different Buckeyes caught a pass vs. the Falcons.