Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ohio State romps by Bowling Green
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State scored 10 offensive touchdowns and rolled up a school record 776 yards in beating Bowling Green on Saturday, but was it enough to impress Coach Urban Meyer? Maybe not yet. After the 77-10 romp, Meyer made it clear that he wants to see what his team can do when the competition gets more difficult, especially in two weeks when the No. 6 Buckeyes have to travel to Oklahoma.
“Well, it’s one game,” he said. “Let’s chat in about four weeks and see how we’re doing.”
Meyer started the day worried about how his many inexperienced players would perform on the big stage. Thirty Ohio State players were participating in their first college game. Lots of them ended up getting involved in the record-breaking day.
The 776 yards topped the 718 yards Ohio State put up against Mount Union in 1930.
Veteran quarterback J.T. Barrett broke a school record in being responsible for seven touchdowns — six passing and a seventh on the ground. The junior was 21 for 31 for 349 yards and rushed for another 30 before giving way to backup Joe Burrow with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
Freshman tailback Mike Weber bullied his way to 136 yards on 19 carries. Curtis Samuel ran for two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass.
“We definitely want to spread the wealth,” Barrett said. “There’s only one football, but try to get the ball in the playmakers’ hands.”
Ohio State held Bowling Green to 244 total yards.
“We pretty much got taken to the woodshed here today,” Bowling Green Coach Mike Jinks said.
Bowling Green’s experienced offensive line did a decent job protecting quarterback James Knapke, who was 12 for 33 for 110 yards.
The Falcons’ only touchdown came in the first quarter when Barrett’s second pass of the day was picked off by linebacker Brandon Harris and returned for a 63-yard touchdown.
“It’s hard to take positives from a butt-whooping like that,” Jinks said.
In other Big Ten Conference games, Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes in the first half and No. 7 Michigan beat visiting Hawaii 63-3 in its most lopsided victory since 1975. … Akrum Wadley ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, LeShun Daniels added 83 yards rushing and two scores, and No. 17 Iowa beat visiting Miami (Ohio) 45-21. … Leroy Clark and Gelen Robinson’s first-quarter interceptions helped host Purdue build an early 21-0 lead, and the Boilermakers outlasted Football Championship Subdivision opponent Eastern Kentucky 45-24. … Trace McSorley threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns to lift host Penn State over Kent State 33-13. … DJ Durkin enjoyed a lopsided victory in his debut as Maryland’s coach, overseeing a dominant performance that carried the Terrapins past visiting Howard 52-13. … Zach Terrell threw for 218 yards and a touchdown, Jamauri Bogan had a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down and visiting Western Michigan posted a 22-21 upset of Northwestern. … Wes Lunt threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns and Kendrick Foster ran for a pair of 56-yard touchdowns to give new Illinois Coach Lovie Smith his first victory, 52-3 over visiting Murray State.