Playing on the road against a team desperate for a win to stay in the national championship discussion, Urban Meyer's young Ohio State squad waltzed into Norman and put a 45-24 hurting on Bob Stoops and his Oklahoma Sooners in what largely looked like a talent mismatch.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and never looked back thanks to J.T. Barrett's leadership, a strong rushing attack, another batch of big plays from the defense and a school record-tying four touchdown receptions from Noah Brown.
The win added to Meyer's list of staggering accomplishments as he moved to 19-0 in true road games since arriving in Columbus (5-0 vs. ranked teams), improved to 13-3 against ranked teams at Ohio State, moved to 57-5 in August/September games in his career and hiked his career winning percentage to .853 which is good for the best among all active FBS coaches with at least 10 years of experience.
With the non-conference slate now in the books the Buckeyes enter a well-timed bye week before taking on Rutgers in a noon banger to kick off the month of October.
Before we shift our attention to Chris Ash's crew, here are Five Things from last night's curb stomping in Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
LEADER OF THE PACK
Not quite as goofy as Quick Cals – nowhere close actually – Ohio State adopted a Land of the Wolves mantra over the winter as Meyer and strength coach Mickey Marotti challenged a young team to attack each day in search of its next meal.
J.T. Barrett took the message to heart and last night reinforced his standing as the alpha male in Ohio State's young and inexperienced locker room as he led the Buckeyes in a determined performance.
Playing like a man on a mission Barrett tossed four touchdown passes, ripped off a host of tough runs between the tackles and most importantly, didn't turn it over once in a magnificently efficient performance.
Barrett tallied 226 total yards via 74 on the ground and 152 through the air – which isn't even a great statistical night for him – but it was the manner in which he went about his business that was enough to suffocate the Sooners.
He didn't get flustered during the numerous times the staff couldn't get plays in quick enough to avoid timeouts or delay of game penalties and his decision making at the line of scrimmage whether it be in executing RPOs such as when he opted to target Brown on a 4-yard touchdown toss putting OSU in front 21-7 or throwing the ball away when nothing was there, the kid turned in an unflappable performance.
With Barrett steering the ship Ohio State won the turnover battle 2-0 and it feels like if he can keep the Buckeyes on the right side of that ledger against any elite opponent they'll be virtually impossible to beat.
DROP THE MIKE
Redshirt freshman Mike Weber ripped off his second 100-yard rushing effort through three games with an outstanding 18 carry, 123 yard performance.
Weber's 6.8 yards per carry night was highlighted by four chunk plays (runs of 10+ yards) including a 35-yarder setting up a Brown touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
During the first two games I was particularly impressed with Weber's penchant for hitting the hole quickly. Tonight, it was his patience and lateral movement at the line of scrimmage that stood out.
At least three times he took the handoff and when the hole wasn't there flashed a Beanie-esque lateral shuffle to find daylight off the edge.
With his big night Weber now has 351 rushing yards on the young season, good for 6.5 per carry and 117 per game (18 carries per).
Beyond his ability as a runner he's also coming along as a blocker which Oklahoma can attest to following his nice block helping seal the edge on Curtis Samuel's 36-yard touchdown around left end to open the scoring.
CAM YOU DIG IT?
In a lopsided game like last night's it is very easy to overlook contributions from a punter but Cameron Johnston is a special player and deserves some love.
Called on to punt five times Johnston dropped all five inside the Sooner 20 and boasted a 50.6 yard average.
His first kick of the night was the most important as he launched a 68-yarder after the offense went 3-and-out on the heels of the defense surrendering a 12-play, 3-minute 40-second drive. Johnston's blast was a huge field flip from the OSU 21 to the Oklahoma 11.
Backed up, the Sooners promptly went 3-and-out, punted, and Ohio State scored four plays later to take a 7-0 lead.
For shits and giggles, Johnston's last punt of the night with six minutes left and the Buckeyes up 45-24 traveled 47 yards to the Sooner 1-yard line. Game, blouses.
With Johnston on fire, no Oklahoma drive started beyond its own 35-yard line and for the game the average starting spot was the 26. Meanwhile, the average starting spot for the Buckeyes was at their own 43.
I think that's called dominating the field position battle.
DEUCE IS LOOSE
Hampered by a balky hamstring his first two years in Columbus, redshirt sophomore Marshon Lattimore is finally feeling good and that's great news for the Buckeyes.
Already with two interceptions (including a pick six) and four PBUs across the first two games Lattimore was a menace again last night with five tackles, another interception and was a hair away from a second pick but the officials overturned the call after a sprawling attempt.
Midway through the 2nd quarter and the Buckeyes in front 21-10, Lattimore picked off Baker Mayfield and returned the ball 21 yards to the Sooner 37. On the next snap Barrett found Brown in the left front corner of the end zone giving Ohio State a 28-10 cushion.
On the near-interception which came on Oklahoma's third possession of the 2nd half as they desperately tried to get back in the game down 42-24, Lattimore laid out and appeared to snag the go-route throw but replay said the ball skimmed the ground.
Through my scarlet-colored glasses Lattimore controlled the ball and there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call but it was ruled an incomplete pass and the Sooners would turn it over on downs four plays later.
Bottom line, Lattimore has been a beast through three games and if not for the staff likely trying to save wear and tear on his legs, he would never leave the field because he's that much better than Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette.
AND YOU STEP TO THE LINE
It can't be discounted Oklahoma was without two of their top three interior defensive linemen but Ohio State's offensive line came to play last night.
Behind Jamarco Jones and Pat Elflein in particular Ohio State racked up 291 rushing yards on 6.1 per carry.
Even as the Buckeyes abandoned any attempt at a balanced attack to win the surest way (20 passes, 48 rushes) the Sooners couldn't stop what they knew was coming as Ohio State reeled off nine carries of at least 10 yards.
At left tackle, Jones continued his progression as a first year starter and while it hasn't been as smooth for his counterpart at right tackle, Isaiah Prince also looked to turn in a fairly solid run blocking night compared to what we saw the first two weeks.
There's still work to be done from a consistency standpoint and in eliminating stupid penalties (of which even a veteran like Billy Price needs to clean up) but it feels like the unit Meyer relies on so heavily is continuing to gel and improve which is bad news for the rest of the country.
