VICTORY
Ohio State beats Penn State, 20-13, in a thrilling top-five matchup at Beaver Stadium.
NORMAN, Okla. — If Ohio State wanted to make a statement, well, mission accomplished.
The third-ranked Buckeyes traveled for the first time Saturday night, and in primetime, they ran away from No. 14 Oklahoma for a 45-24 win. With the win, Ohio State improved to 3-0 on the young season while the loss dropped the Sooners to 1-2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 14 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 45 |
| OKLAHOMA | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
Noah Brown announced his presence to the college football world with four touchdown catches on the evening, which tied a school record. Brown finished the game with five catches for 72 yards. His fourth touchdown of the day, an 8-yard snag, put the Buckeyes ahead 42-17 early in the third quarter.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett was efficient running and throwing as Barrett was 14-for-20 passing for 152 yards and four touchdowns while gaining 74 yards on 17 carries on the ground. Curtis Samuel was also effective with 11 carries and two receptions for 118 total yards with one touchdown. Mike Weber carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards.
In all, Ohio State racked up 443 yards of total offense. The Buckeyes gained 291 of those yards on the ground and racked up 152 through the air.
Ohio State gained control from the get-go scoring the game's first two touchdowns. Curtis Samuel took a sweep wide on fourth down for a 36-yard touchdown run. Shortly thereafter, Jalyn Holmes tipped a pass from Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and Jerome Baker intercepted it and returned it 68 yards to the house for a score.
After that, it was Brown's show.
The redshirt sophomore wide receiver scored the Buckeyes' final three touchdowns of the first half. The first was a 4-yard grab on a fade near the goal line and the second was a 37-yarder where Barrett found him in the corner of the end zone.
Brown's third touchdown catch of the first half, however, was his best. With Michiah Quick draped all over him, Brown literally caught a 21-yard pass from Barrett on his opponent's back to give Ohio State a 35-17 halftime lead.
The Buckeyes are off next weekend before returning to action Oct. 1 at home against Rutgers.
| Ohio State | Stat | Oklahoma |
|---|---|---|
| 443 | NET TOTAL YARDS | 404 |
| 291 | RUSHING YARDS | 178 |
| 48 | RUSHING ATTEMPTS | 35 |
| 6.1 | AVERAGE PER RUSH | 5.1 |
| 1 | RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 152 | PASSING YARDS | 226 |
| 14–20 | COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS | 17–32 |
| 10.9 | AVERAGE PER COMPLETION | 13.3 |
| 4 | PASSING TOUCHDOWNS | 2 |
| 22 | 1st DOWNS | 19 |
| 14 | RUSHING 1st DOWNS | 9 |
| 7 | PASSING 1st DOWNS | 9 |
| 1 | PENALTY 1st DOWNS | 1 |
| 68 | TOTAL PLAYS | 67 |
| 6.5 | YARDS PER PLAY | 6.0 |
| 3-4 | RED ZONE | 2-3 |
| 6-14 | 3rd DOWNS | 5-13 |
| 2-2 | 4th DOWNS | 0-3 |
| 11-75 | PENALTIES | 4-28 |
| 35:49 | POSSESSION | 24:11 |
Game Notes
- The win extends Ohio State's road win streak to 19 games, the longest active streak in the nation.
- Ohio State is undefeated, 19–0, in true road games under head coach Urban Meyer.
- Urban Meyer is now 34–13 in his career vs. ranked teams, including 13–3 at Ohio State.
- Meyer is 57–5 in his career in games played in August/September.
- Meyer improves his career winning percentage – .853 – which is the best among active coaches with at least 10 years of FBS coaching experience.
- Ohio State's defense gave up its first touchdown of the season in the second quarter.
- J.T. Barrett completed 14 of 20 passes for 152 yards and four touchdowns, all to Noah Brown. Barrett now has 55 career TD passes, passing Braxton Miller (52) and Troy Smith (54) for third place on Ohio State's all-time list. The record is 57 by Bobby Hoying.
- Noah Brown tied the Ohio State record with four TD receptions. Dane Sanzenbacher (2010), Terry Glenn (1995) and Bob Grimes (1952) also had four in a game. Brown finished with five catches for 72 yards.
- Mike Weber recorded the second 100-yard game of his career with 123 yards on 18 carries. Curtis Samuel nearly hit the century mark with 98 and a touchdown.
- Ohio State intercepted two more passes – Jerome Baker and Marshon Lattimore – to bring its season total to 9 through 3 games.
- Baker returned his INT 68 yards for a score to bring Ohio State's “Pick 6” total to four on the season and tying the school record for most INTs returned for a TD in a season ('97 and '86).
- Ohio State's defense surrendered its fist touchdowns of the season Saturday, keeping opposing defenses out of the end zone for the first 9 quarters of the season. Ohio State is yet to allow a rushing TD on the season.
- Chris Worley led Ohio State with a career-high 10 tackles on the night.
- Punter Cameron Johnston dropped five punts inside the 20. As a result, Oklahoma started all of its possessions inside their own 35 yard line.
- Ohio State is 51–23 all-time in night games (those starting after 5 p.m. local time), including records of 37–19 in road (25–10) or neutral (12–9) night games.
- Saturday was the third meeting in the series between Ohio State and Oklahoma.
- The Buckeyes are now 2–1 vs. Oklahoma and 19–5–1 all-time against current members of the Big 12 conference.
