An early afternoon kickoff on an unseasonably warm day for a non-conference game in September is often a recipe for low attendance, but Ohio State drew a crowd of 106,187 to Ohio Stadium for its game against UNLV on Saturday.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was impressed with the turnout, opening his postgame press conference by expressing his gratitude to the fans.
"12 noon, 90-plus degree heat and I saw every seat filled," Meyer said after the game. "And I just speak on behalf of our team and our coaches, that's a wow."
That sizable home crowd was treated to a dominant performance by the home team on Saturday, as the Buckeyes rolled over the Rebels to a 54-21 win.
Ohio State has been surrounded by its fair share of doubters since it loss to Oklahoma – and still is, as doubters aren’t inclined to give UNLV, a team that lost its season opener to Howard, much credit – but the Buckeyes showed they still have plenty of confidence in themselves after winning by 30-plus points for the second week in a row.
Much of the criticism targeted at Ohio State in recent weeks has surrounded its passing game, as J.T. Barrett and the Buckeyes’ wide receivers have failed to live up to expectations. But the Buckeyes expressed belief that their passing game can still be among the nation’s elite after they threw for a school-record 474 yards and seven touchdowns on Saturday.
"It's just huge for our confidence," said Ohio State wide receiver Parris Campbell. "It's huge for J.T. to have confidence for us, to know that we can consistently make those plays. We just got to keep pushing.
"I feel like we have so much potential on offense."
Meyer was more measured with his confidence in the passing game, stating that the Buckeyes have to prove they can perform at the same level against tougher competition in Big Ten play. Barrett said, though, that he believes the offense is getting to where it needs to be to perform well as the Buckeyes turn the calendar to conference games for the rest of the regular season.
"I think we are just building each and every day," Barrett said. "As far as being that great offense, it’s not going to be one day that’s going to make it happen, so just playing together, playing hard, just keep on building."
Most of the other criticism surrounding Ohio State early this season has focused on the passing defense, as a result of the Buckeyes allowing 420 yards to Indiana and 386 yards to Oklahoma. But the Buckeyes feel like they are on their way to being great on that side of the ball too after holding UNLV to 88 passing yards and well below its rushing average – 176, compared to 350.5 in its first two games – on Saturday.
"I still feel like we are one of the best defenses in the country," said Ohio State safety Damon Webb. "We are trying to get better and better as the week goes on. That’s what our coaches tell us – to worry about us, it doesn’t matter who we are playing."
Because the Buckeyes were able to pull out to a 37-0 lead just 21 minutes into Saturday’s game, most of Ohio State’s starters played for only a half or less. That included Barrett, who was replaced by Dwayne Haskins before the first half was over, meaning that Barrett spent more time on the sidelines on Saturday than he had in any game since he was Cardale Jones’ backup early in the 2015 season.
Barrett said he didn’t think much of being taken out of the game early – before the rest of Ohio State’s starters, with the exception of center Billy Price – having felt like he made the most of his time on the field. But he did try to help Haskins, third-string quarterback Joe Burrow and the rest of his teammates perform at their best once he moved to the bench.
"The conversation that happens within a game, that’s not something that’s talked about really but as a quarterback, you try to get on the same page as your receivers, the offensive line, protection … so all those things happen on the sideline like between series, so trying to get those to feel comfortable to go ask the receiver area: 'On this play, what did you see? What was the coverage out there?' On the O-line: 'What’s the protection?' Whatever the case may be, all these different things, there’s a lot of in-game adjustments," Barrett said. "So it was good for them to have those conversations when it’s go time to go out there and play."
Defensive end Nick Bosa said he did the same with the Buckeyes’ younger defensive ends, including freshman Chase Young and sophomore Jonathon Cooper, after he came out of the game.
"I was trying to coach up Chase and Coop," Bosa said. "It's really different on the field. You can't simulate it. I hope we have a lot more games like this so they can get reps."
Chase Young saw extended playing time in Ohio State's win over UNLV.
While Meyer was impressed by the Ohio Stadium crowd on Saturday, UNLV quarterback Armani Rogers was #notimpressed, saying that he “expected it to be louder.” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez also said he did not believe Ohio State’s home crowd made a difference in the way the game played out.
"I don’t think the environment had anything to do with the outcome today," Sanchez said. "Our guys did a pretty good job of being focused. Coming out, I don’t think the noise really affected them on the field."
Sanchez was impressed, though, by the way Ohio State’s players on the field performed.
"We won’t play a faster team, especially in all three phases," Sanchez said. "This is the fastest team you’ll see. No team we play is going to run on all three phases the way these guys run. And nobody is going to have the depth these guys have."
