It took a half for the offense to find its footing but with the defense forcing six turnovers and scoring two touchdowns, Ohio State had little trouble dispatching Tulsa 48-3 in a squishy affair in the Shoe.
J.T. Barrett tallied a pair of rushing touchdowns in an otherwise unremarkable performance (for him) and Mike Weber scored his first touchdown as a Buckeye while racking up 92 yards on 17 carries.
The win improved Ohio State to 2-0 ahead of the prime time showdown at Oklahoma next Saturday.
Before turning your attention to the showdown in Norman, here are Five Things from yesterday's 45-point drubbing of Tulsa.
TOUCH ME
When the game was still somewhat of a game – aka the 1st half – Curtis Samuel registered exactly four touches. Meanwhile, Ohio State's starting tailback Mike Weber (nine touches) and quarterback J.T. Barrett (eight rushes) combined for 17.
If you're like me and think Samuel is the undisputed most talented skill player on the squad then you might also be scratching your head over that fact especially after it seemed Samuel had finally earned proper respect from the coaches after 22 touches against Bowling Green.
Now maybe Meyer went into the game hoping to limit wear and tear on Samuel given the trip to Oklahoma looming on the schedule or he and the staff didn't want the Sooners to have any extra film on how he can be used but both seem unlikely after Samuel recorded nine touches in the 2nd half even though victory was secured.
I'm sure there's a reason Samuel wasn't a focal point of the game plan when the contest was still somewhat in doubt – maybe Meyer was hellbent on trying to establish the traditional run game – but for the most gifted playmaker on the field to record only four touches in the opening half, that felt odd.
After Samuel became more involved in the 2nd half with those nine opportunties he ended up with a 13 touch, 140 yard afternoon (10.8 yards per). Interestingly, Weber ended up with 18 touches (17 rush, 1 rec), or five more than Samuel while Barrett racked up 16 carries and Dontre Wilson added only six touches.
In a game basically decided by halftime, I wish I better understood the logic behind the 16 carries for Barrett, particularly the eight in the 2nd half, knowing Ohio State's hopes for a playoff spot are likely over if he is seriously hurt on an unnecessary carry against Tulsa while guys like Samuel and Wilson are already underutilized.
Maybe I just have a soft spot for Samuel since he has quietly waited his turn for what seems like forever despite being the best H-back on the team for two years now and the best tailback this year. That's not a knock on either Braxton Miller or Weber, it's just how I see it.
It will be interesting to see what the game plan looks like for Oklahoma. Will Meyer revert back to his comfort level and rely on his quarterback in the run game potentially too much? Will Samuel's touches be more on par with the 22 we saw against Bowling Green or will we see something in the 10-15 range?
SLOW AND LOW, THAT IS THE TEMPO
Beyond how Samuel was deployed, the offensive game plan in the 1st half seemed a bit curious after producing just six points on two field goals while going 2 for 8 on 3rd downs with 159 total yards.
After blitzing Bowling Green last weekend with a free-wheeling uptempo attack the Buckeyes came at Tulsa in a sluggish, plodding manner even though bad weather had not yet arrived.
It seemed the plays coming in from the sideline took exponentially longer than last week leading to lethargic possessions with no real flow.
It can't be discounted the wind was blowing even before the rain but it still seemed strange Barrett and Weber accounted for 80% of the rushing attempts (16/20) before halftime as Meyer and staff must have likely felt helpless to stretch the field.
All in all it felt like an uneven opening half from a tempo perspective. Similar to how Samuel is featured, it will be intriguing to see if the offense comes out looking to pressure the Oklahoma defense with tempo or employs a more methodical approach like we saw yesterday.
SHOUTOUT TO ROBERT LANDERS
Tracy Sprinkle's season-ending injury suffered last week left a big hole in the middle of Ohio State's defensive line but I was encouraged by the outstanding effort turned in by redshirt freshman Robert Landers.
The Huber Heights Wayne product came up big with four total tackles including a pair of TFL to help the Buckeyes offset the loss of Sprinkle.
Landers was especially bossy on Tulsa's sixth possession of the afternoon as Ohio State nursed a 6-3 lead.
With Tulsa taking possession at its own 25 following a Tyler Durbin field goal, Landers got things started as he shot the gap stopping Golden Hurricane tailback James Flanders for a 2-yard loss.
Tulsa would advance the ball a total of 30 yards on back-to-back 15-yard gainers before Landers went back to work snuffing out a 1st and 10 reverse for a 9-yard loss.
With Tulsa now off schedule facing 2nd and 19, Landers bull-rushed his man pressuring quarterback Dane Evans into an incomplete pass thus forcing a punt two plays later.
It was a huge sequence for Landers and helped rally an otherwise stagnant crowd frustrated with being in a 6-3 dogfight with Tulsa.
Used sparingly last week, Landers likely earned more significant playing time next weekend after leading his fellow defensive tackles with those four stops and two TFL.
It was great to see the young man step up.
DEEP COVER
The secondary was supposed to be a bit of a concern following the departures of Eli Apple, Vonn Bell and Tyvis Powell to the NFL.
Instead, the secondary has been a unit of strength for the Buckeyes.
A week after recording three interceptions and one touchdown against Bowling Green, the secondary upped the ante against Tulsa with four interceptions and two touchdowns.
Malik Hooker has been the early story for the Ohio State defense after a breakout spring game backed up with two dazzling individual plays resulting in interceptions last weekend. Yesterday, Hooker continued showing a nose for the ball with a 26-yard pick six putting Ohio State in front 13-3 with just over three minutes left in the opening half. Beyond the ball hawking, Hooker again flashed solid open field tackling ability as the anchor of the Buckeye defense and his pancake of a Tulsa offensive lineman during Marshon Lattimore's pick six was all kinds of glorious.
At corner, Lattimore backed up his solid effort last week (2 PBU) with a pair of interceptions, the second of which he took 40 yards to the house giving Ohio State a 20-3 lead just 33 seconds before the half. Sharing time with Denzel Ward early – whom I was bullish on due to his speed – Lattimore really has no peer at the corner spot opposite Gareon Conley.
Speaking of Conley, the fourth-year junior recorded his first interception of the season despite being largely avoided by Evans.
Seven interceptions through two games is pretty damn solid for a secondary with three new starters.
WET BEHIND THE EARS
Philip Montgomery, in only his 2nd year as head coach at Tulsa following six years at Baylor serving as offensive coordinator under Art Briles, showed his inexperience late in the 1st half helping Ohio State seize control of the game.
Taking possession down 13-3 with 1:00 left in the half and Ohio State holding two timeouts as the rain began to pick up, Montgomery got caught playing with fire.
Things started out fine for him as Tulsa dialed up a running play on 1st down which Meyer countered by taking a timeout.
Facing 2nd down with the rain now coming down in buckets, Montgomery called a pass play to the sideline but the pass from Evans to Nigel Carter fell incomplete, stopping the clock in the process allowing Meyer to save his final timeout.
With 49 seconds now left and 3rd down looming, Montgomery doubled down on the derp calling for another pass play. Evans dropped back and the wet ball fluttered out of his grip and into the waiting arms of Lattimore who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown giving Ohio State a commanding 20-3 lead with 33 seconds left in the half.
Yes, Tulsa was going to lose this game either way but Montgomery's decision to not only throw it on 2nd down but to back it up with an even worse call to throw it on 3rd down in a driving rainstorm was insanity and cost his team any shot at an upset.
