An efficient and balanced day for Ohio State’s offense, coupled with a mostly dominant performance by the Ohio State defense, led the No. 8-ranked Buckeyes to a 38-7 win over Army at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
True freshman running back J.K. Dobbins re-emerged as Ohio State’s best offensive weapon, while Army stayed true to its identity as a run-heavy triple option offense – even as the score became one-sided.
Let’s take a look at three statistics that played a key role in the outcome of Saturday’s game.
Army completes two passes for 19 yards
The Black Knights ran for 259 yards in Saturday’s game, more than twice as many as Ohio State gave up in its first two games combined (121), but that was all they had on offense.
Even though Ohio State’s passing defense was ranked dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision entering Saturday’s game, the Black Knights were only able to complete two passes for 19 yards on eight attempts.
That actually surpassed the Black Knights’ combined passing total from their first two games of the season, as they completed only two total passes for 17 yards in their wins against Fordham and Buffalo, but not nearly enough to put up consistent points on a defense of Ohio State’s caliber.
Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw did come close to completing one deep-ball pass to Kell Walker early in the second quarter, but a rangy, undercutting pass breakup by Ohio State safety Erick Smith (as pictured above) kept a touchdown off the board.
J.K. Dobbins runs for 172 yards and two touchdowns
Ohio State wins whenever J.K. Dobbins runs for at least 100 yards.
That statement has been true for the first three games of his Buckeyes career. As was the case in Ohio State’s season-opening win against Indiana, when he ran for 181 yards in his Buckeyes debut, Dobbins was the best and most consistent part of Ohio State’s offense against Army.
Ohio State probably should have handed the ball off to Dobbins more against Oklahoma, when he gained 72 yards and one touchdown on only 13 carries in the Buckeyes’ 31-16 loss. But he only needed 13 carries to rush for 172 yards – an average of 13.2 yards per carry – and two touchdowns on Saturday.
Dobbins’ big game, which brings him to 425 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the season, not only led the Buckeyes to victory but likely entrenched his role as Ohio State’s starting running back for the foreseeable future. Mike Weber had only four carries for 13 yards in Saturday’s game.
Zero turnovers for Ohio State
The only way Ohio State was likely to end up in a dangerous position against the less talented but disciplined Black Knights on Saturday was if it made costly mistakes that put Army in favorable field positions.
That didn’t happen. The Buckeyes had one close call when K.J. Hill dropped a punt, but he quickly recovered it to secure possession. By not committing a single turnover in Saturday’s game, the Buckeyes forced Army’s offense to work the field all day – the Black Knights’ lone touchdown came on a 99-yard drive – and were able to hold the Black Knights to only seven points as a result.
Ohio State has been turnover-free in each of its first two wins and has only one committed turnover for the season. The Buckeyes have a plus-five turnover margin for the season after forcing one turnover – a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Kendall Sheffield – against Army.
