Martell tosses first TD pass of college career
COLUMBUS — Tate Martell covered half the field in no time at all, showcasing his quickness as he hurried to celebrate his first career touchdown pass for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Martell, a redshirt freshman appearing in his second game, entered for one series in the first half against Rutgers and led the No. 4 Buckeyes to one of their five touchdowns before halftime. His 51-yard pass to Terry McLaurin pushed Ohio State’s lead to 28-0. They led 35-0 at the break.
Martell will serve as starter Dwayne Haskins’ backup, and if the first two games are any indication, he will get plenty of work.
“I think it will change as we go into each week and what we see with the defense,” acting head coach Ryan Day said last week. “We want to kinda get him in the game. How it plays out, we can’t really predict how that’s going to work, but we definitely want to get him in the game and let him go play.”
Pregame message: Ohio State defensive tackle Robert Landers, a Wayne High School grad, celebrated the start of conference play with a message on Instagram under a photo of him kneeling on the turf before the Cotton Bowl last season.
“We were hand picked to carry the weight of adversity and carry it proud and strong,” Landers wrote. “Lord forgive us for what we are about to do to the Big Ten.”
Close to milestone: Ohio State sought to become the second FBS team to win 900 games in its 129-year history Saturday. It entered the game with a mark of 899-324-53. Only Michigan, with 943 victories, has won more. Texas entered the weekend with 898 wins.
Injury update: OSU offensive lineman Brandon Bowen, who suffered a season-ending injury in the sixth game of the 2017 season, posted a photo to Instagram on Friday of him recovering from surgery in a hospital bed at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.
“This past year has been by far the most challenging year of my life,” Bowen wrote. “I found out a couple weeks ago that my fibula hadn’t fully healed, and was not connected (known as a non-union), and would most likely never fully heal on its own. I tried to play through this for a while, but the pain became too much as it was affecting how I was playing, from running, to simply taking my steps as an offensive lineman. As frustrating as this injury has been, I know it’s going to make me stronger after it’s all said and done. I know God has a plan for me. I’ll be back and better than ever.”
Looking ahead: The Buckeyes play the premier game of their nonconference schedule at 8 p.m. next Saturday, facing Texas Christian at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Buckeyes and Horned Frogs played six times between 1937 and 1973. Ohio State leads the series 4-1-1.
Ohio State has played twice at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in recent years, beating Oregon 42-20 in the national championship game in 2015 and Southern California 24-7 in the Cotton Bowl last season.
No. 16 TCU is 2-0 after a 42-12 victory against Southern Methodist on Friday.