COLUMBUS — They say you should never wake a sleeping giant, but with today’s kick being a 3:30 game, the Buckeyes were only going to hit the snooze so many times before they finally woke up. When they did ultimately roll out of bed, #6 Ohio State (4-0) proceeded to unleash a torrent of first-half touchdowns on the Miami RedHawks (1-3), scoring 42 points in the second quarter alone. When the dust had settled, the Buckeyes walked out with an expressive 76-5 win.
Ohio State outgained the RedHawks 601 yards to just 130. Three Buckeye quarterbacks combined to complete 22-of-30 passes for 374 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 17 yards per completion.
Miami’s passing game, meanwhile, was a bit less effective, as two RedHawk quarterbacks combined to go 7-of-20 for 60 yards and an interception.
Surprisingly, Miami actually scored first in this game. In fact, they were responsible for the first two scores. Ohio State, however, ended up with the next 11 scores — all touchdowns.
On Ohio State’s first possession — backed up at their own 2-yard line, quarterback Justin Fields dropped back and had the ball stripped and knocked out of the end zone for a safety. On Miami’s next possession, they went 66 yards in 14 plays, ending with a field goal to make it 5-0.
And that’s when the Buckeyes decided to get the sleep out of their eyes.
JK Dobbins opened the scoring for Ohio State with an agile 26-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
With the second play of the second quarter, Fields found H-back KJ Hill down the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown. It was the longest pass and catch in both players’ careers. On Miami’s very next play, cornerback Jeff Okudah intercepted a wayward pass from RedHawks quarterback Brett Gabbert at the Miami 41-yard line. Three players later, Fields took a 7-yard keeper into the end zone for the 21-5 lead.
Fields capped the Buckeyes’ next drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, making it 28-5 with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter.
Ohio State got the ball back pretty quickly when six plays into Miami’s drive, junior defensive end Chase Young came around the edge and sacked Gabbert, forcing a fumble in the process. Linebacker Malik Harrison recovered the fumble for the Buckeyes.
Three plays later, Fields hit Chris Olave for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 35-5.
Miami went three-and-out on their next possession, but for the second week in a row OSU blocked a punt. This time it was sophomore cornerback Sevyn Banks on the block, which was recovered by Ohio State at the Miami 20-yard line.
Following a holding call on left guard Jonah Jackson, Fields found Binjimen Victor three plays later on a 30-yard post pass in the back of the end zone to give OSU the 42-5 lead.
And the Buckeyes weren’t done yet.
On Miami’s very next play from scrimmage, Chase Young forced another fumble on his second sack of the day. Five plays later, Fields hit Olave for a 10-yard touchdown pass, making it 49-5 and closing out the scoring for the first half.
But wait, there’s more.
The Buckeyes played their backups for the entire second half, and the scoring continued. Backup quarterback Chris Chugunov found freshman receiver Garrett Wilson in the corner of the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown grab. Wilson went up and around the defender, batting the ball to himself and then nearly losing it as he was laying on the ground.
And then there were still three more touchdowns to come.
Freshman running back Marcus Crowley caught a rollout pass from Chugunov late in the third and scooted into the end zone from seven yards out. Freshman receiver Jameson Williams caught a simple in route for a 10-yard gain or so, then reversed his footing and went 61 yards untouched for the touchdown.
Speed?@OhioStateFB's Jameson Williams has plenty of it. pic.twitter.com/an6KpZmJeo
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) September 21, 2019
The final score for the Buckeyes came from freshman running back Steele Chambers, who busted into the end zone from two yards out. Chambers led the team in rushing with 63 yards on eight carries.
JK Dobbins only played one half, rushing for 52 yards on eight carries.
The rain was coming down hard at this point and the extra point was missed by walk-on kicker Dominic DiMaccio, giving the game its final score of 76-5.
Defensively, the Buckeyes finished with 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.
