Bowling Green Falcons vs Ohio State Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Sep 03, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 3, 2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- J.T. Barrett shrugged off an early interception to tie a school record with six touchdown passes and Curtis Samuel scored three touchdowns as No. 6 Ohio State coasted to a 77-10 victory over in-state opponent Bowling Green on Saturday in the season opener for both teams in Ohio Stadium.

After Barrett threw a pick-six on Ohio State's first offensive series, the Buckeyes kicked their offense into high gear and raced to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 35-10 at halftime. Three of Barrett's touchdown passes came in the opening 15 minutes.

The redshirt junior quarterback, who had a record-setting year for the Buckeyes as a freshman in 2014 and then took over for Cardale Jones as the starter midway through last season, completed 21 of 31 passes for a career-high 349 yards and added a rushing TD in a prolific 2016 debut that ended midway through the third quarter.

Samuel, a junior, caught two of Barrett's touchdown passes and finished with nine receptions for 177 yards. He also rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Barrett's other touchdown passes went to K.J. Hill, Dontre Wilson and Noah Brown.

Despite returning only three starters on offense, the Buckeyes looked like a juggernaut with an array of young talent on display, racking up a school-record 776 yards of total offense.

Barrett put an exclamation mark on the first half with a 9-yard touchdown run up the middle with 26 seconds to go before halftime that gave the Buckeyes a commanding 35-10 lead and capped a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

The second half opened with more of the same as Barrett hooked up with Samuel for a 21-yard touchdown pass and a 42-10 lead just 1:15 into the third quarter. Samuel scored again three minutes later on a 12-yard run and Barrett's last touchdown pass went to Wilson, an 11-yard strike for a 56-10 lead before the backups took over.

Ohio State redshirt freshman Mike Weber, taking over at running back for first-round draft pick Ezekiel Elliott, made his debut as the starter with 136 yards rushing on 19 carries. Freshman running back Demario McCall added two late touchdowns.

Ohio State's defense limited Bowling Green to 244 total yards. Buckeyes safety Malik Hooker had two interceptions and four tackles. Freshman Rodjay Burns capped the scoring with a 75-yard interception return.

With Ohio State returning only six total starters from a team that finished 12-1 a year ago, coach Urban Meyer was eager to see how his young but talented roster would perform in the first game on the big stage of Ohio Stadium.

Bowling Green stunned Ohio State at the start when Brandon Harris intercepted Barrett's second pass of the game in the flat and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown that gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. But it was all downhill from there for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State answered on its next possession with Barrett connecting with Hill for a 47-yard touchdown pass that tied the score at 7 with 10:40 remaining in the first quarter.

The Buckeyes took the lead for good at 14-7 with 4:49 left in the first quarter when Barrett hooked up with Wilson for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Samuel made it 21-7 four minutes later when he broke free over the middle and completed a 79-yard scoring pass from Barrett.

Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke was intercepted twice and completed 12 of 33 passes for 110 yards.

NOTES: Ohio State lost a former five-star recruit and prospect this week when WR Torrance Gibson was suspended for a non-football related matter. Coach Urban Meyer said he disagreed with the decision but had no recourse. Gibson was expected to be in the Buckeyes' wide receiver rotation. ... Bowling Green is the last Mid-American Conference opponent that Ohio State will face in the foreseeable future. With the Big Ten going to a nine-game conference schedule this year and the College Football Playoff system's emphasis on quality opponents, MAC teams that traditionally find a place on the Buckeyes' schedule will no longer be there. ... Saturday's game was the first as a head coach on any college level for Bowling Green's Mike Jinks. The former Texas Tech assistant was a high school coach in Texas before joining the Red Raiders and then landing the Falcons' job after last season when Dino Babers left for Syracuse. ... Ohio State hasn't lost to an in-state opponent since it was beaten by Oberlin in 1921.