2. Barrett’s comeback:

man record of 175 yards set by Maurice Clarett against Texas Tech in 2002.

Dobbins became the sixth true freshman to start the first game of the season, joining quarterback Art Schlichter (1978), left tackle Orlando Pace (1995), linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer (1996), Clarett and right guard Michael Jordan (2016).

“I’m not surprised at all,” Meyer said of Dobbins. “I kind of tempered my emotions with (the media) early on. We’ve seen that since spring practice. He’s had a hell of a camp. Mike Weber could have went tonight. He’s about 80 percent. He’s on call. We get Mike back next week, and that’s going to be a nice one-two punch.” Barrett completed 10 of 21 passes for 95 yards in the first half and 10 of 14 for 209 yards in the second half. He threw three touchdown passes and also rushed for a score.

Ohio State trailed 21-20 at the 4:56 mark in the third quarter. Then Barrett threw three touchdowns in the next eight minutes: 74 yards to Parris Campbell; 59 yards to Johnnie Dixon; and 11 yards to Binjimen Victor.

Barrett became Ohio State’s all-time record for total offense, passing Art Schlichter. Barrett has 8,851 yards.

“I thought we operated in the second half faster,” Bar- rett said. “You could see the defensive guys not being able to get set. With older expe- rienced guys, whether it’s receivers, O-line and tight ends, the conversation is better on the sideline with adjustments.

3. Almost a hero:

Wayne grad Robert Landers, a redshirt sophomore defensive tackle, made one of the plays of the night, picking up a fumble and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown.

The score would have given Ohio State a 26-14 lead, but on review, the play was overturned because Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow’s hand was moving forward when he lost the ball.

Even t hough it d idn’t count, the sight of the 6-foot- 1, 283-pound Landers rumbling down the field and shed- ding tacklers at the goal line will be long remembered.

“That was a touchdown,” defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. “I’m jogging. I’m laugh- ing the whole way there. I don’t think nobody thought anything like that would hap- pen. We were all laughing on the field. I was even looking at the Indiana players, and they were laughing. It was probably the funniest thing I’ve seen on ball field.” the foot-

4. Defensive problems:

Lagow threw for 410 yards, completing 40 of 65 passes. He threw three touchdown passes and was intercepted twice.

Lagow did most of his dam- age in the first half as the Hoosiers built a 14-13 half- time lead, but he showed Ohio State how much work it has to do before it plays No. 7 Oklahoma in its sec- ond game at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Ohio Stadium.

“Our defense was exposed big time in the first half,” Meyer said. “Pass defense was awful. It wasn’t compli- cated. They were just picking on corners, so the corners have got to step up. We see what’s coming in eight days, nine days, whatever that is: Oklahoma. If we don’t get that right, it’s a problem.”

The Hoosiers had the Buckeyes on their heels in the third quarter and then went 3-and-

5. Missed chance:

out, lost a fumble and threw an interception on next four drives.

Although Lagow had success passing the ball, Indiana couldn’t get anything going on the ground. The Hoosiers gained 17 yards on 27 carries, an average of 0.6 yards per rush. Ohio State rushed for 292 yards, aver- aging 5.7 yards.

“We just played a great football team,” Indiana coach Tom Allen said. “There’s no other way to put it. I coached in the SEC, and that’s the kind of team we wanted to play about every week, especially the elite ones. The speed that they have and the size that they have is pretty special. So hats off to them. I’m disappointed in the finish. Very proud of our start to the game and most of the third quar- ter. But there’s no consola- tion in that.”

Hayden Moore CINCINNATI — was told by first-year Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell he won the quarterback job over Ross Trail last week.

Moore responded with touchdown passes to Thomas Geddis, Kahill Lewis and Tyler Cogswell in the Beacats’ 26-14 win Thursday night over the Austin Peay Governors in the season opener for both teams.

The Bearcats offense started slowly and didn’t score until the 10:54 mark in the second quarter.

“It felt similar to last year’s game against Tennessee-Martin,” Moore said in referring to the 2016 opener. “I definitely had a slow start. I missed some throws, but as we settled down and I started making some easy throws, everybody started to do their job. That’s what Coach always talks about: If everybody does their job we’ll be good.”

Fickell came to Cincinnati after 18 years at Ohio State, serving as defensive coor- dinator for the bulk of his career there.

“It’s been a while coming for these guys, for myself,” Fickell said. “Seven-and-ahalf, eight months of kind of grinding through a lot of different things and emphasizing the journey that we’ve been on. To have some ups and downs, but ultimately to get the win.”

Fickell knows what power-conference football is like but recognizes the challenges are similar at any level.

“It’s not easy, winning,” Fickell said. “I don’t care what level, I don’t care who you’re playing. It’s not. To come away with a win, to do the things we did, to have the adversity. I think that’s probably, as we look back and go to evaluate this night, to see what we’re really made of is I think what we’re really gonna grow from.”

The Bearcats’ other touchdown came on a 3-yard run by Mike Boone in the fourth quarter after the Governors had cut Cincinnati’s lead to six.

Cincinnati’s defense made some huge plays to keep the Governors from a chance at a win on the road.

Austin Peay’s JaVaughn Craig threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Kentel Williams in the first quarter but was intercepted by defensive tackle Bryan White in the last minute of the first half. Jeremiah Oatsvall took over the Governors offense in the second half and led a 13-play, 66-yard scoring drive capped by Josh Alexander’s 11-yard run to get the visitors within 20-14 with under 12 minutes left in the game.

The Governors turned the ball over on downs on the Bearcats 7 with 1:32 to play.

Austin Peay had 313 yards offense to the Bearcats’ 249.