It was very clear that the Buckeyes really tried their best for only a half against Tulane.
It was all they needed.
Led once again by quarterback Dwayne Haskins, the Ohio State offense was unstoppable against Tulane.
The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on their first six possessions with five of those scores coming via passes from Haskins that included scoring tosses of 14 yards to Parris Campbell, 17 yards to Terry McLaurin, 37 yards again to Campbell, 31 yards to Binjimen Victor, and 14 yards to Austin Mack.
Just for variety, J.K. Dobbins added a 9 -yard touchdown run in between the scoring passes to Victor and Mack.
An out-manned Tulane squad did manage to put up a touchdown in the first half to cut the OSU lead to 21-6, but the extra point was blocked. It was their last – and only – hurrah.
The 42-6 lead at the half meant that Haskins’ day was over as well as most of the OSU other starters on both offense and defense.
As a result the second half was essentially a scoreless affair pitting OSU’s reserves against Tulane’s starters. The Buckeye second-team offensive line did not protect reserve quarterback Tate Martell as well as the first unit had protected Haskins, and that made it tough for the OSU offense to be consistent.
Ohio State running backs had trouble finding holes as well, though DeMario McCall had some success late in the fourth quarter, both rushing the ball and as a receiver. It was McCall’s effectiveness that led to the last score of the game, an OSU touchdown by Martell late in the final quarter to make the final score 49-6.
Haskins finished the day with 21 of 24 passing for 304 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. H-back Parris Campbell had a big day with 8 receptions for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Dobbins led the Buckeye rushing attack with 55 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries. Ohio State amassed 570 yards of offense, 419 of them in the air and 151 on the ground.
Fourteen different Buckeyes caught passes in the game.
The Buckeye defense held Tulane to 256 yards of total offense, 100 rushing and 156 through the air.
Ohio State tailback Mike Weber left the game in the second half with what appeared to be a minor leg injury. After the game head coach Urban Meyer said that Weber would be available for next week’s big matchup with Penn State in Happy Valley.
Unassisted tackles by our LB’s vs Tulane:
backups – Booker 4, Keandre 3, Hilliard 2
starters – Browning 2, Tuf 0, Malik 0, Werner 0
Can we please play our best linebackers?
I agree………BUT……….when your position coach is Bill Davis, he wouldn’t know a decent linebacker if one slapped him stupid…….er. To compound the issue, he’s the son of a friend of Urbans, so Urban will look the other way while his friends son destroys the history and tradition of legendary Buckeye Linebacker football.
Davis doesn’t have the same issues as Zach Smith, but like ZS he simply STINKS as a football coach.
There’s got to be a reason that Tuf and Browning are starting over Hilliard – and Booker is so much better than Werner – I’ll take Malik with those two – doesn’t seem like they tackle the pile. I would have liked to see the first team offense use the 3rd quarter to work on the running game. Find me one safety and two linebackers before next week (or at the very least play the best players) and I’m thrilled. Right now I’m happy
I wonder if anyone even schemed anything for the second half offense? That was the most out of synch, out of sorts, head scratching offensive play calling we’ve seen since the Clumpson fiasco. To make matters worse, the execution is was something that would make the backups for Indiana look good.
The 2’s at linebacker however looked WAY better than the 1’s linebackers even playing behind the 2 and 3 deep along the defensive front. Is there NO ONE of the 1’s linebacking unit have a single solitary notion what playing gap discipline means? Give me Dante’ Booker 100 times out of a hundred over Pete Werner, and judging by results, give me Justin Hilliard over both Tuf and Baron at MIKE. Put Keandre’ and Malik in the ring and the winner should start. Justin and Dante’ played hungry………….maybe it’s beyond time to feed them.
James, completely agree. The LB’s et al making me nuts, as any rogue fake to TB opens up an absolute open 10-12 yard completion every time…naming but one big concern. Bucks passing game unstoppable; run-offense C at best; and outside of a great D-line, not sure we can stop anybody good if there is any break at the line.
Take the over next week, as looks like a Big -12 game about to happen!
I wonder if, inside the practice facility, there is pressure to fix the LB problem? Some observations about the group in general:
1) I firmly refuse to believe there is a lack of talent in our LB group.
2) Looks like the head breakfast coach bit us again with a buddy hire for the LBs. I assume he’s not foolish enough to have adult toys delivered to the practice facilities or to ignore recruiting trips, so getting rid of him looks even more difficult than it was to get rid of buddy/nepotism hire Smith
3) Still amazed a clearly hobbled Borland is a) playing and b) somehow not being overcome by a competitor
4) For the most part, OSU knows what it’s going to get from the other units
on the field. If things go south at State Penn, its likely the LB unit will be the cause. Get ready for it folks…
5) Does anyone else miss the days of fundamentally sound defense? You know, steady players who understood assignments and could somehow manage to avoid the 15 yard penalties? That is this team’s biggest flaw, just waiting to be exposed. Hope I’m wrong.