COLUMBUS — If games only lasted for one quarter, new Buckeye quarterback Justin Fields would have already been voted into the College Football Hall of Fame. As it is, however, he didn’t do too badly in the rest of his debut, as Ohio State coasted to a 45-21 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls.
Fields finished 18-25 passing for 234 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.
On Ohio State’s fourth play from scrimmage, Fields kept the ball on a read option and skated 51 yards for the touchdown. He was touched briefly by a Florida Atlantic defense, which was their most forceful stand of the first quarter.
The Buckeyes scored 28 points in the first quarter. Fields connected with sophomore tight end Jeremy Ruckert for a 25-yard touchdown with no defenders in the vicinity, and then did the same on the next two drives with a 32-yarder to senior receiver Binjimen Victor and a 29-yard dart to sophomore receiver Chris Olave.
At one point, Fields was 7-9 passing in the first half with two drops on deep balls.
Fields finished the first half an impressive 10-16 for 172 yards with three touchdowns, but he was pressured quite a bit in the second quarter. The offensive line bogged down, as then did the rest of the offense in the second quarter. A fumble by running back JK Dobbins put FAU in scoring position, which resulted in a 28-yard field goal to put the Owls on the board.
The Owls opened the second half with a 65-yard drive, bolstered by some quick completions. The drive ended in another 28-yard field goal.
The Buckeyes eventually answered with a 10-play, 52-yard, hard-earned drive, capped by a 3-yard play-action touchdown pass from Fields to Ruckert to make it 35-6 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Florida Atlantic followed up their previous 10-play, 65-yard drive with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. After a failed onside kick attempt gave the Buckeyes the ball at FAU’s 40-yard line, the Ohio State offense made short work of the Owl defense with a 7-play touchdown drive, sealed by a 1-yard JK Dobbins scoring plunge.
The Dobbins score made it 42-14, but FAU added another touchdown, thanks to a 76-yard drive against the Ohio State backups. OSU kicker Blake Haubeil finished the scoring on the day with a 46-yard field goal to make it 45-21.
The Ohio State defense was outstanding while it mattered, then gave up four meaty drives when the end was no longer in doubt. Even so, the Owls only rushed for 22 yards on 33 attempts. They completed 26-of-40 passes for 206 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The interception came from sophomore safety Josh Proctor, who was only inserted a few moments earlier.
Dobbins rushed for 91 yards on 21 carries. The Buckeyes as a team put up 237 yards rushing on 48 attempts (4.9 ypc).
Sophomore receiver Chris Olave led the Buckeyes with five receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown.
All-American defensive end Chase Young notched 1.5 sacks. His Buckeye teammates added 2.5 others. They finished with 12 tackles for loss in total.