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Rapid Reaction: Ohio State rebounds nicely against Army

Garrett Kroeger

By Garrett Kroeger

Published:

Final score: Ohio State 38 Army 7

Quick recap

After a crushing home defeat against the Oklahoma Sooners last week, the Ohio State Buckeyes rebounded nicely against the Army Black Knights.

The Ohio State offense came out firing, unlike the Oklahoma game. The Buckeyes scored on all three of their first half possessions, go into halftime with a 17-7 lead. Then in the second half, the Ohio State offense became even more explosive.

The second half saw freshman J.K. Dobbins run 52 yards for a score and quarterback J.T. Barrett score two touchdown passes (a 20 and 9 yard score) in route to break former Purdue quarterback B1G touchdown record. The record is now 107 and counting.

Key play: J.K. Dobbins’ 52-yard touchdown run

For the first half of the game, Army hung with Ohio State. The Black Knights controlled the ball for the majority of the first half. But on the Buckeyes’ first possession of the second half, freshman running back J.K. Dobbins broke down the door with a 52 yard touchdown run.

On the run, Dobbins looked like he was going to be stopped short of the first down. However, he broke an Amry defender’s ankles with a juke move and then Dobbins saw all green space in front of him.

 

Dobbins’ score opened the flood gates for Ohio State to win easily over Army.

Stat of the game: J.T. Barretts for 270 yards and two touchdowns while completing 25-of-33 passes

All week long, Ohio State fans have been wondering whether or not coach Urban Meyer was going to make a quarterback change. Meyer did not and trusted Barrett. And the senior signal caller looked like the J.T. of old.

After struggling against Oklahoma, Barrett picked apart the Black Knights’ defense. He completed a 20 yard and 9 yard touchdown pass while adding another score on the ground.

 

If the Buckeyes can get this type of performance from Barrett for the rest of the season, they could possibly sneak back into the College Football Playoff picture.

What it means

The Ohio State offense, primarily the passing game, looked like it finally worked out the kinks that have held the Buckeyes back in their first two games. Barrett spread the wealth around as three receivers record 50 plus yards receiving (K.J. Hill with 74, Parris Campbell with 54 and Terry McLaurin with 53).

While the passing game looked improved, this game also showed that Ohio State’s offensive strength is its running game. Dobbins ran for 174 yards against the Black Knights.

As the offense continues to improve and try to get to the defense’s level, the Buckeyes’ offense will have another “try to improve” game next week as the UNLV Rebels come to The Shoe.

Garrett Kroeger