After a week full of speculation surrounding the Ohio State offense and its quarterback, the Buckeyes got back on track.
Led by a balanced offensive attack, Ohio State downed Army 38-7 on Saturday afternoon, accumulating 586 yards of offense.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett, after a week of ridicule from people outside the program, threw for 270 yards and added 32 on the ground. He added two passing scores, and added another on the ground to break Drew Brees' Big Ten touchdown record in the fourth quarter.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #9 OHIO STATE | 14 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| ARMY | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
After Ohio State took a 17-7 lead into the locker room, Army's offense marched into Buckeye territory with an 11-play, 39-yard drive to start the second half. The drive stalled, however, as the Black Knights failed to come away with points after missing a 43-yard field goal attempt.
It took just two plays for Ohio State to score its first points of the second half, as J.K. Dobbins rattled off a 22-yard run on the first play of the Buckeyes' first drive, following it with a 52-yard run up the Army sideline for a touchdown, his second of the day.
The ensuing possession saw the Black Knights put the ball on the ground, as Ohio State cornerback Kendall Sheffield scooped up the fumble for the Buckeyes at their own 36-yard line.
| Ohio State | ARMY | |
|---|---|---|
| 586 | NET TOTAL YARDS | 278 |
| 270 | RUSHING YARDS | 259 |
| 32 | RUSHING ATTEMPTS | 58 |
| 8.4 | AVERAGE PER RUSH | 4.5 |
| 3 | RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS | 1 |
| 316 | PASSING YARDS | 19 |
| 29-37 | COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS | 2-8 |
| 10.9 | AVERAGE PER COMPLETION | 9.5 |
| 2 | PASSING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 30 | 1st DOWNS | 16 |
| 18 | RUSHING 1st DOWNS | 14 |
| 12 | PASSING 1st DOWNS | 1 |
| 0 | PENALTY 1st DOWNS | 1 |
| 69 | TOTAL PLAYS | 66 |
| 8.5 | YARDS PER PLAY | 4.2 |
| 5-5 | RED ZONE | 1-1 |
| 4-8 | 3rd DOWNS | 4-15 |
| 0-0 | 4th DOWNS | 3-4 |
| 5-55 | PENALTIES | 2-22 |
| 23:03 | POSSESSION | 36:57 |
It took just four more plays for Ohio State to score again as Barrett found wide receiver Terry McLaurin for a 20-yard touchdown pass in the southwest corner of the end zone to extend the Buckeye lead to 31-7.
Barrett broke the Big Ten career touchdowns record on a fourth-quarter 9-yard touchdown pass to Austin Mack. The score, Mack's first career touchdown, capped the scoring.
Ohio State opened the game by scoring on its first two offensive possessions, using a handful of run/pass option plays. Barrett capped the opening drive of the game with a 5-yard touchdown run, before running back J.K. Dobbins scored from two yards out on the Buckeyes' following offensive possession off of a speed-option pitch from Barrett.
The third possession of the game for the Buckeyes resulted in a Drue Chrisman punt that was downed at the Army 1-yard line. From there, the Black Knights marched 99 yards on 18 plays, taking 9:37 off the clock to cut the Ohio State lead in half with just 6:26 to play in the first half.
The final Ohio State possession of the first half ended with a 33-yard field from Sean Nuernberger to send the Buckeyes into halftime with a 17-7 advantage.
Game Notes
- K.J. Hill tallied career highs of eight receptions for 74 yards.
- Tuf Borland led the Buckeyes with a career-best 11 tackles.
- Damon Webb tied his career-high with nine tackles for the second-consecutive game. Erick Smith set a career high with nine stops as well.
- J.K. Dobbins' 52-yard touchdown run in the third quarter marked a career long.
- Terry McLaurin recorded his first touchdown reception of the year in the third quarter.
- Dobbins rushed for 172 yards, making his second career game of more than 100 yards on the ground. The freshman averaged 13.2 yards per carry against Army.
- Punter Drue Chrisman downed his seventh-consecutive punt inside the 15-yard line before the streak was snapped by a touchback in the third quarter.
