The Buckeyes are 1-0 in Big Ten play.
A Saturday noon matchup with the Hoosiers ended triumphantly as Ohio State blew out Indiana, winning 51-10. The Bucks ran rampant all over Bloomington, rushing for a total of 314 yards and three scores.
In today's Three Key Stats, we will take a look at the return of the Silver Bullets, Dobbins' domination, and the first contributions of a number of underclassmen.
The Silver Bullets broke up eight passes against the Hoosiers, the most this season.
Damon Arnette's performance was the most memorable.
The fifth-year senior had possibly the best game of his career. He had a key pass breakup in the end zone even used his helmet to break up a pass.
Damon Arnette wasn't having it. pic.twitter.com/qI97ohgZx2
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 14, 2019
Overall, he had two deflections on the game and also gave us this gem:
The cherry on top of a monster game from Arnette. pic.twitter.com/sGm30YG3wD
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 14, 2019
As a whole, the defense knocked down eight of Indiana's passes, the highest mark this season. The Bucks held quarterback Peyton Ramsey to just 4.91 yards per passing attempt as he threw the ball 33 times for just 162 yards.
The Silver Bullets are back and looking better than ever.
J.K. Dobbins nearly doubled his rushing total on the year, rushing for 193 yards on 22 carries.
Coming into today, Dobbins had a poor game against Florida Atlantic and a great one against Cincinnati. Today's matchup against the Hoosiers would tell us where he was trending.
Boy did he let us know.
Dobbins ran for nearly 200 yards on 22 carries, averaging a ridiculous 8.77 yards per rush. He added two touchdowns, including this rush where he broke six (yes, six) tackles.
BEAST. MODE. pic.twitter.com/srb2PLQkyl
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 14, 2019
Amazingly, it was not just big plays that pushed his averages up. Dobbins had just four runs of 10+ yards and two runs for negative yardage. He was consistently moving the chains on his own.
A number of underclassmen recorded major contributions, including Zach Harrison, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, and Josh Proctor.
Zach Harrison, the highly-touted true freshman out of Olentangy Orange, has officially arrived. The weak-side defensive end recorded the first sack of his career early in the fourth quarter.
And it was a hammer. pic.twitter.com/8c0zcSrwsq
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 14, 2019
Harrison was not the only underclassmen to get to the quarterback for the first time, however, as Javontae Jean-Baptiste got in the backfield later that period. Tyler Friday, a true sophomore, recorded his first sack of the 2019 season as well.
Elsewhere, Josh Proctor broke up two passes (dropped two interceptions) and Marcus Williamson forced a fumble on kickoff. Justin Hilliard, who was on the field for the first time since rupturing his Achilles this past offseason, also recorded a tackle.
While the Buckeyes will not play another Big Ten opponent until September 28th, the experience for these players will be invaluable as the grind of the season continues. With a date with Miami next week, it is almost time for the second edition of the Battle of Ohio.
