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tBBC Defense Shines through the Rain Clouds as Buckeyes Douse Tulsa 48-3

Ben van Ooyen

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Defense Shines through the Rain Clouds as Buckeyes Douse Tulsa 48-3
Ben van Ooyen
via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


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The Buckeyes entered today 1-0 coming off a record breaking performance last weekend against Bowling Green. The offense racked up 776 yards of total offense and score 77 points, the most since 1950. There was the threat of some severe weather at kickoff, however it held off until around halftime, but it didn’t help the Ohio State offense.

The game started well for Ohio State as they won the coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half. Then on the first play of the game, Dane Evans went back to pass and the ball was picked off by Marshon Lattimore. The Buckeye offense stalled after two short runs and an incomplete pass, so Tyler Durbin came in and connected on his first career field goal to make it 3-0.

The Buckeyes defense forced Tulsa to punt after a 9-play drive that ended when Sam Hubbard sacked Evans on 3rd and 10 for a loss of 11. Dontre Wilson called for a fair catch and then a personal foul penalty was enforced so the Buckeyes started from the 7-yard line. Two runs by Mike Weber got it out to the 25, then a completion to Wilson got it out to the 39. On the next play Barrett ran the read option with Mike Weber, but held onto the ball along with Weber and the ball came lose and was pouched on by Tulsa.

Tulsa took over and drove down to the 1-yard line and decided to go for it on 4th and goal. James Flanders was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by a group of Buckeyes led by Malik Hooker. Ohio State took over from there and went three and out after 2 yards of offense. Cam Johnston came out for his second punt of the season and his 49 yard punt netted 37 after a 12 yard return by Keidrien Wadley.

Tulsa took over and drove 20 yards on five plays, and settled for a field goal from 37 yards out as Redford Jones made his second of the season.

The stalling Buckeye offense came out again after a touchback on the kickoff. Another three and out with J.T. Barrett looking for Johnnie Dixon twice and not connecting. Again Cam Johnston came out to punt and again hit a good one 54 yards that was returned for six, but nullified by a block in the back.

Tulsa came out and ran four-straight times to open the drive and made two first downs. Evans hit a couple of passes to Keevan Lucas and Justin Hobbs who looked to have the first down on his 3rd down catch, but a booth review overturned the call and made it 4th and 1/2 yard. Tulsa punted and Dontre Wilson had an 18 yard return that set the Buckeyes up at the 36 yard line.

Barrett connected on a couple of quick passes to Terry McLaurin for a first down, and then Curtis Samuel made a nifty move for another first down run. The Buckeyes got down to 1st and goal and JT ran for five yards down to the 2. Samuel probably would have run into the endzone, but he got a head start and was flagged for a false start which again killed the drive. JT threw a bullet to Marcus Baugh on 3rd down but it was out of his reach, and the Buckeyes settled for another field goal to take a 6-3 lead.

Tulsa took over after a touchback, and Dane Evans had a couple of nice completions for 15 yards for Lucas and Hobbs, and the Golden Hurricane looked like they were moving. Tulsa called a reverse on the next play and Ohio State’s defense stuffed it in the backfield for a nine yard loss. That killed the drive and Tulsa punted again with a fair catch made at the 14 by Dontre Wilson.

The Buckeye offense finally showed a little bit on the next drive, but were stuffed on a 4th down and four when J.T. Barrett rolled out to pass and then improvised to run and was stopped two yards short.

While the offense was not moving the ball and was settling for field goals, the defense decided enough was enough. Malik Hooker made another spectacular play coming across the field after reading Evans eyes and making the interception and taking it in for the touchdown.

Tulsa got the ball back late in the second quarter after a nice 52 yard return by Bishop Louie. However a rush from the Buckeye defensive line hit Evans as he was getting ready to throw and a fumble was caused. The Buckeye offense again stalled out and Johnston punted for a touchback.

It looked like Tulsa was going to run out the clock, so after a first down run Ohio State called a timeout and Tulsa decided that they would throw the ball. The rain started to come down in droves and throwing the ball was probably a bad idea. Marshon Lattimore made Evans pay when his wobbly duck was picked off and taken to the house again to give the Buckeyes the 20-3 halftime lead.

The storms finally arrived in Columbus, and the game went to halftime. The game was delayed coming out of halftime and didn’t resume until 6:34pm EST.


Some hardy souls waiting out the weather in the Ohio Stadium stands. Game between Ohio… https://t.co/BFlK2zH3e6 pic.twitter.com/UdHzpTZo0Z

— Brian Bennett (@BennettESPN) September 10, 2016


The second half got underway, and the Buckeye offense looked like a completely different team. The first drive out of the gate was a 6 play 84 yard drive that ended in another J.T. Barrett rushing touchdown. The drive included a lot of runs by Barrett, Weber, Wilson and Samuel.

The Buckeye defense picked up where it left off in the first half and made it difficult for Tulsa to do much of anything offensively. Their first two offensive drives ended in punts, and the Buckeyes punted in between.

The Buckeyes got the ball back after the second punt and again drove down the field 84 yards ending in Mike Weber’s first career rushing touchdown. The drive included two long passes from Barrett to Curtis Samuel who again proved to be Barrett’s favorite target on the day.

The Buckeyes then made their 4th interception on the day when Gareon Conley picked off Dane Evans on a long pass that was floated in front of his intended receiver. The Buckeyes were unable to capitalize on the interception and again Cam Johnston was forced to punt, and he nailed a beauty 61 yards that was downed at the 2 yard line.

Tulsa took over and again went 3 and out, and Dontre Wilson had a great punt return to set up the Buckeye offense on the 28 yard line. Three plays later Ohio State found the endzone again as J.T. Barrett scored his second of the night. The highlight reel play was the “Braxton-esque” spin move that Dontre Wilson made on the 1st down reception.


Here's the Wilson spin again for those asking for it. pic.twitter.com/eAaZ0pjX6b

— Eleven Warriors (@11w) September 10, 2016


The Buckeyes then forced Tulsa to put yet again after another three and out, and Dontre Wilson found the endzone making it 48-3 and all but ending the game.

Nick Bosa again made an appearance late forcing a fumble from Dane Evans, marking his 5th turnover of the game. The fumble was recovered by Joshua Alabi. Joe Burrow and Demario McCall came in and a few handoffs and a run by Burrow later, the game was over and the rain soaked Buckeyes move on toward Norman next week 2-0 without having allowed an offensive touchdown this season.

After being dominated in the first half in time of possession, the Buckeyes ended up winning the clock battle 34:53 to 25:37. Ohio State ended the night with 417 yards of offense, nearly 350 less than last week. They held Tulsa to 189 yards of offense on 15-32 passing and 61 rushing yards on 37 attempts (1.6 ypc). JT Barret was 14/22 for 149 yards and 55 yards rushing on 16 carries with two touchdowns. Mike Weber had 17 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown and Curtis Samuel had 78 yards rushing on 8 carries and 62 yards receiving on 5 catches. Terry McLaurin was the leading wide receiver with three catches and 28 yards.

Check back with us all week as we take a look at the big matchup next Saturday in primetime as the Buckeyes travel to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners.

The post Defense Shines through the Rain Clouds as Buckeyes Douse Tulsa 48-3 appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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