fans bathe meyer in applause as he returns from suspension
Coach thanks staf, players, ‘best fans in the land’ in speech.
COLUMBUS — Fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes welcomed coach Urban Meyer back with open arms Saturday as he returned to the sideline following a threegame suspension.
At the first glimpse of Meyer before he walked to the Skull Session with the team, fans started cheering. Before he could speak to the crowd at St. John Arena, fans drowned him out with applause.
Meyer thanked three groups in his speech that came two hours before a 3:30 p.m. game against Tulane at Ohio Stadium.
“The first group is our coaching staffffffffffff, led by Ryan Day in the last three weeks,” Meyer said. “The second group and most important group, a group I love from the deepest part of my heart and soul: our players, (who) went down there to Texas and brought you back a victory. And last, the players and coaches and all of us together, without question, the best fans in the land, thank you.”
Perfect passers: By completing his fifirst nine passes Saturday, Dwayne Haskins topped backup quarterback Tate Martell’s streak of 13 straight.
Haskins completed hi s fifinal six passes against Texas Christian and stretched his streak to 15 before throwing an incompletion against the Green Wave. Martell completed his last three passes in the season opener against Oregon State and all 10 of his attempts against Rutgers.
Touchdown machine: Ohio State’s Parris Campbell caught two touchdown passes in the fifirst quarter to take the team lead with five.
Offense rolli ng: Ohio State scored on its fifirst three possessions against Tulane. I t outscored i ts f i rst four opponents 66-14 in the fifirst quarter. Meyer was asked Monday how much better his ofense could be.
“A l ot better,” he said. “Two very good running backs. We can get a lot bet- ter.”
Ohio connection: Tulane has one player from Ohio: redshirt freshman defensive end Justin Walton, of University School in Cleveland.
Recruiting news: Center ville High School freshman quarter back Chase Harrison visited Ohio State on Saturday. Harrison visited Louisville on Sept. 15 after receiving a scholarship offer from the school on June 3.
Out of action: Defensive tackle Robert L anders missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Meyer listed him as probable after hesu er e dan injury against Texas Christian.
The Buckeyes also played without defensive end Nick Bosa, who underwent surgery to repair a core muscle injury Thursday. Bosa will be sidelined indefifinitely.
Looking ahead: Ohio State plays at Penn State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC.
The No. 10 Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0) beat Illinois 63-24 on Friday in Champaign, Illinois. Trace McSorley threw three touchdown passes. Miles Sanders ran for 200 yards and three scores.
The Buckeyes lost their last game in State College (Pa .)24-21 in 2016 and needed double overtime to win 31-24 at Penn State in 2014. Contact this reporter at 937244-7400 or email David. Jablonski@coxinc.com.