For one quarter, Miami (Ohio) was able to stay competitive with Ohio State.
In the second quarter, it became clear who the better team – the much, much better team – was on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
Ohio State scored touchdowns on all six of its second-quarter possessions for a 42-0 second quarter that led the Buckeyes to a 76-5 win over Miami in their final non-conference game of the regular season on Saturday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #6 OHIO STATE | 7 | 42 | 14 | 13 | 76 |
| MIAMI (OHIO) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
The game got off to a slow start for the Buckeyes. After Miami downed its punt at the 2-yard line following its opening possession of the game, Justin Fields had the ball stripped out of his hands by RedHawks linebacker Myles Reid, and the ball rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety, making Miami the first team all season to take a lead against the Buckeyes.
Miami extended that lead to 5-0 on its subsequent possession, on which it drove all the way inside Ohio State’s 3-yard line before settling for a 21-yard Sam Sloman field goal.
| OHIO STATE | MIAMI | |
|---|---|---|
| 601 | NET TOTAL YARDS | 130 |
| 227 | RUSHING YARDS | 70 |
| 42 | RUSHING ATTEMPTS | 43 |
| 5.4 | AVERAGE PER RUSH | 1.6 |
| 4 | RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 374 | PASSING YARDS | 60 |
| 22-30 | COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS | 7-20 |
| 17.0 | AVERAGE PER COMPLETION | 8.6 |
| 7 | PASSING TOUCHDOWNS | 0 |
| 30 | 1st DOWNS | 10 |
| 15 | RUSHING 1st DOWNS | 6 |
| 13 | PASSING 1st DOWNS | 2 |
| 2 | PENALTY 1st DOWNS | 2 |
| 72 | TOTAL PLAYS | 63 |
| 8.3 | YARDS PER PLAY | 2.1 |
| 7-8 | RED ZONE | 1-1 |
| 1-5 | 3rd DOWNS | 4-17 |
| 2-2 | 4th DOWNS | 1-1 |
| 6-52 | PENALTIES | 4-50 |
| 1 (0) | TURNOVERS (DEF PTS OFF) | 3 (21) |
| 27:02 | POSSESSION | 32:58 |
The Buckeyes took the lead just over two minutes and nine seconds of game time later, though, when J.K. Dobbins ran for his second 26-yard touchdown in as many weeks.
Ohio State only led 7-5 after the first quarter, but on the second play of the second quarter, Fields connected with K.J. Hill on a 53-yard touchdown pass – the longest completion for Fields and longest reception for Hill of their Ohio State careers to date – to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 14-5.
Jeff Okudah made the first interception of his Ohio State career on Miami’s next possession – after narrowly missing an interception in the first quarter – and the Buckeyes drove 41 yards in three plays and 29 seconds, capped by a 7-yard Fields run, to take a 21-5 lead less than one minute into the second quarter. Fields ran for another touchdown on the Buckeyes’ next possession, this time from six yards out, to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 28-5.
A strip sack by Chase Young led to a fumble recovery by Malik Harrison on Miami’s next possession, and Ohio State quickly capitalized with another touchdown, this time on a 13-yard pass from Fields to Chris Olave.
Sevyn Banks blocked Miami’s punt after its next possession, and Binjimen Victor caught a 30-yard pass from Fields at the back of the end zone for Ohio State’s fifth touchdown of the second quarter.
After Chase Young recorded his second strip sack in three possessions on Miami’s next series, with Tyler Friday recovering the loose ball, Fields found Olave again for another touchdown from 10 yards out.
Ohio State’s 42 second-quarter points, all of which came on either touchdown passes or touchdown runs by Fields, were its most in any quarter since at least 1960, eclipsing the previous high of 34 points in the first quarter against Florida A&M in 2013. The Buckeyes had 252 yards of offense in the second quarter alone, while Miami (Ohio) finished the quarter with a net loss of seven yards.
Won't see many more lopsided quarters than the second quarter between Ohio State and Miami (Ohio) today. pic.twitter.com/kJ07596vMu
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) September 21, 2019
The Buckeyes did not play any of their starters in the second half, but still continued to build their lead. Their first touchdown of the third quarter came when true freshman wide receiver Garrett Wilson – who also had a 52-yard punt return earlier in the quarter – made a spectacular catch over a Miami defensive back for a 38-yard reception on Chris Chugunov’s first touchdown pass of his Ohio State career.
Garrett Wilson went ALL THE WAY UP pic.twitter.com/NCarDXShpC
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 21, 2019
Ohio State drove 70 yards in 10 plays on its next possession, which Chugunov capped by connecting on a 7-yard pass with Marcus Crowley for the first touchdown of the true freshman running back’s Buckeye career, to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 63-5 before the end of the third quarter.
Just one minute into the fourth quarter, Jameson Williams extends Ohio State’s lead to 70-5 by taking a Gunnar Hoak pass 61 yards into the end zone for the first touchdown of each of their respective Buckeyes careers.
Steele Chambers scored the first touchdown of his career on a 2-yard run with 3:02 to play for the final six points of the game (Dominic DiMaccio, Ohio State’s backup kicker, missed the extra point).
The game was called with two minutes and 40 seconds to play after a lightning strike in the area.
Game Notes
- Josh Proctor was added to the unavailable list prior to Saturday's game and did not play due to an undisclosed injury. Others who did not play on Saturday included defensive linemen Jonathon Cooper, Tyreke Smith, Robert Landers and Taron Vincent and wide receiver C.J. Saunders, who were all listed as unavailable on Friday's status report.
- Tuf Borland, Chase Young, J.K. Dobbins and K.J. Hill were Saturday's game captains.
- 1955 Heisman Trophy winner Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, who died on Friday, was honored pregame with a moment of silence. The Buckeyes wore decals on their helmets featuring the No. 40, Cassady's jersey number at Ohio State, and a Buckeye leaf, and Ohio Stadium showed a video montage of Cassady between the first and second quarters.
- Through four games, Fields is the only quarterback in the Football Bowl Subdivision with both passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns in every game so far this season (h/t 247Sports' Steve Helwagen).
- 103,190 was the official attendance for Saturday's game at Ohio Stadium.
