3rd-quarter burst powers Buckeyes
A whirlwind ARLINGTON, TEXAS — four minutes that included 63-yard foot race, a defensive touchdown, a botched trick play and a blocked punt very well may have changed the trajectory of Ohio State’s season.
How much you think Saturday’s game against TCU mattered as a College Football Playoff resume point for the Buckeyes depended on what you think of the Big Ten, and how the champion of a league that saw its trendy preseason playoff pick — Wisconsin — lose earlier on Saturday would be viewed at the end of the season.
That’s an unknown still. Better for Ohio State to get a win that will matter now just in case.
That third-quarter sequence, technically 4:01 of craziness, helped the No. 4 Buckeyes turn the course of the game and leave AT&T Stadium with a 40-28 win over the No. 15 Horned Frogs.
Ohio State (3-0) got through its three-game stretch without head coach Urban Meyer without a loss, and now a marquee victory. Meyer will be back on the sideline next Saturday against Tulane.
The Buckeye reversal of fortune started with a 63-yard catchand-run touchdown from Parris Campbell, a tunnel screen that was well-blocked and got Ohio State’s fastest playmaker into the open field. That cut TCU’s lead to 21-19 with 6:58 left after a failed twopoint conversion attempt. Sixty-four seconds later, OSU defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones intercepted a shovel pass from TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson, returning it 28 yards for a touchdown and 26-21 Buckeye lead.
TCU tried to go Music City Miracle on the ensuing kickoff, but was flagged for an illegal forward pass when KaVontae Turpin tried to lateral the ball the width of the field. On fourth down on the ensuing drive, a bobbled snap by Horned Frogs punter Adam Nunez led to a blocked punt. Two plays later, Haskins hit K.J. Hill on a fade out of the slot for a 25-yard touchdown and a 33-21 lead with 2:57 left.
Three touchdowns in four minutes spun a game that looked to have TCU in position to get the most significant win of the early season.
“I would say the defensive score was the biggest one,” acting head coach Ryan Day said. “Anytime you’re playing in a game like this and you can win the turnover battle, that’s our plan to win. We didn’t turn the ball over, and we got three turnovers, two of them for scores. That’s huge.”
Ohio State’s offense wasn’t necessarily bottled up, but it was inconsistent and struggled to finish drives. Until Campbell’s touchdown, the offense settled for three field goal attempts — including one miss from kicker Sean Nuernberger — while the group struggled with dropped passes, poor snapping that threw off the timing in the passing game and a running game that at times felt predictable.
OSU’s only touchdown through nearly two-and-a-half quarters came when defensive end Nick Bosa stripped Robinson in the end zone and defensive tackle Davon Hamilton recovered it for a touchdown.
A 93-yard touchdown run from Darius Anderson gave TCU a 14-10 lead in the second quarter. It was the longest rushing touchdown in program history for TCU, and the longest play from scrimmage ever allowed by Ohio State. It was the product of the Buckeyes getting caught with their nickel package on the field, and their linebackers still struggling with positioning.
Through three games Ohio State has seen inconsistent play from its linebackers and safeties — a fact that was on display later in the game when TCU’s TreVontae Hights caught a 51-yard touchdown pass while splitting a pair of defenders deep down the field.
TCU finished with 511 yards of total offense, the most for an Ohio State opponent since the Buckeyes gave up 536 in a win over Michigan State in 2014.
The Buckeyes had issues on both sides of the ball that nearly cost them against a good TCU team — until that sequence late in the third quarter changed things.
Haskins, in his first test against a talented defense, was solid. He completed 24 of his 38 pass attempts for 344 yards and two touchdowns. And for the first time this season, we saw him keep the ball on a designed quarterback run play. His five-yard touchdown run with 12:30 left in the fourth quarter gave the Buckeyes its final cushion.
J.K. Dobbins led Ohio State with 121 rushing yards on 18 carries. Mike Weber also had 18 carries, finishing with 64 yards. Hill led the OSU receivers with six carries for 95 yards and a touchdown.
Despite its inconsistencies, Ohio State finished with 526 yards of offense.
Junior defensive end Nick Bosa left the game early in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury. Bosa walked to the locker room under his own power, but limped back onto the sideline in street clothes late in the third quarter. At the time he left the game, Bosa had five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
Day did not have an update on Bosa after the game.