Ohio State Cruises Past Tulane, 49-6, In Urban Meyer's First Game Back As Head Coach

In Urban Meyer’s first game back from his three-game suspension, the Buckeyes rolled to a 49-6 victory over Tulane, improving their record to 4-0 on the season ahead of a much-anticipated game at Penn State.

Just as they did in each of their two previous home games this season, Dwayne Haskins and the Buckeyes marched right down the field for a touchdown on their opening possession of the game. Parris Campbell gained 35 yards on a catch-and-run on the game’s second play from scrimmage, and Haskins capped a nine-play, 91-yard drive by zipping a throw past a defensive back to Campbell for a 14-yard touchdown.

Haskins started the game by completing his first nine straight passes, throwing another touchdown pass from 17 yards out to Terry McLaurin on the Buckeyes’ second possession of the game.

He finally threw an incompletion on the Buckeyes’ third possession of the game, but finished that drive with a drop-in-the-bucket throw to Campbell for a 37-yard touchdown, extending the Buckeyes’ lead to 21-0 before the end of the first quarter.

Tulane scored its first six points of the game on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Jonathan Banks to Terren Encalade and capped by a 2-yard Darius Bradwell run. Jonathon Cooper blocked the ensuing extra point attempt, however, to keep the Buckeyes up 21-6.

Haskins responded by throwing a touchdown pass on his fourth straight drive to start the game on the Buckeyes’ next possession, connecting with a wide open Binjimen Victor, who strolled into the end zone for a 31-yard score.

Just as he did in Ohio State’s first two games of the season against Oregon State and Rutgers, Tate Martell took Haskins’ place at quarterback for the Buckeyes’ fifth offensive possession of the game. That didn’t slow their offense down at all, though, as Martell led the Buckeyes on a six-play, 59-yard touchdown drive, capped by an 8-yard J.K. Dobbins run.

Haskins came back into the game for Ohio State’s final possession of the first half and threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day, from 14 yards out to Austin Mack, to extend Ohio State’s lead to 42-6 before the break.

For the first half as a whole, Dwayne Haskins completed 21 of 24 passes for 304 yards for five touchdowns, with Parris Campbell catching eight of those passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Martell, who played the entire second half in relief of Haskins, scored the only touchdown of the second half – and covered the spread for the Buckeyes – when he high-stepped into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown run, set up by a 35-yard catch-and-run followed by a 15-yard run by Demario McCall, with just 1:01 left to play.

Next Saturday’s game at Penn State is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m kickoff and will be televised on ABC. The Nittany Lions, like the Buckeyes, bring a 4-0 record into next week’s game, a game that could have major implications on who wins the Big Ten East for a third year in a row.

Game Notes

• Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell, Tuf Borland and Jordan Fuller were the game captains for Saturday's coin toss.
• With Nick Bosa and Robert Landers sidelined by injuries, Chase Young and Davon Hamilton made their first career starts on the Buckeyes' defensive line.
• K.J. Hill, who was Ohio State's primary punt returner in 2017 but did not return any punts in the Buckeyes' first three games of the season, returned to that role on Saturday. C.J. Saunders also returned punts on Saturday, while Johnnie Dixon and Saunders both returned kickoffs.
• Baron Browning and Tyler Friday recorded their first career sacks.
• Jake Hausmann, who saw his first playing time of the season on Saturday, was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on a kickoff return in the second quarter. Justin Hilliard was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on a punt return in the third quarter.
• Mike Weber limped across the field after taking a hit on the Tulane sideline in the second quarter of Saturday's game, and did not return to the game.
• Rashod Berry was penalized for holding on two separate extra point attempts in the first half.
• 100-year-old Anthony Violi, a TBDBITL alumnus, dotted the 'i' in Script Ohio during a joint halftime performance by the current TBDBITL and alumni band members. 
• 103,336 was the official attendance at Ohio Stadium for Saturday's game.
• Jaelen Gill and Garyn Prater each made the first catches of their Ohio State careers in the fourth quarter.
• True freshman wide receiver L'Christian "Blue" Smith saw the first playing time of his Ohio State career in the fourth quarter.
• Freshman running back Brian Snead, who did not make the trip to TCU for disciplinary reasons, did not play again in Saturday's game.
• Ohio State has won nine consecutive games, the second-longest winning streak in FBS.
• Ohio State is now 24-2 over the last seven years in the month of September.
• The Buckeyes are now 41-3 at home under head coach Urban Meyer.
• Ohio State has outscored its opponents 66-14 in the first quarter this season.
• The Buckeyes totaled 425 yards of offense in the first half, the the second time this season Ohio State eclipsed the 400-yard mark in a half, after recording 407 in the first half in the season opener against Oregon State.
• Haskins has three 300-yard passing games in the first four weeks of the season and moved into a tie for third place on the career 300-yard passing games list. Joe Germaine and J.T. Barrett share the record with eight.
• Haskins’ 16 touchdown passes through four games are the second-most in Big Ten history. Kyle Orton threw 17 to start the 2004 season.
• Sixteen different players have scored touchdowns for the Buckeyes through four games. Last year, 16 different players scored touchdowns during the entire season.
• Campbell now has a team-high five touchdown receptions in 2018. Saturday marked Campbell’s first game with multiple receiving scores.
• Victor’s 31-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was his first of the season.
• Ohio State tallied 14 tackles for loss in the win.