Recap: UNLV at #10 Ohio State

 First Half:

After pounding Army into the dirt, the Buckeyes begin their quest to add another convincing win to their resume.  UNLV isn’t a team that scares top tier teams like Ohio State, but you never know in College Football.

UNLV won the toss and elected to receive, but their initial drive fell short of expectation.  During the opening kickoff, the crowd immediately got into it as one of their players on Special Teams delivered a huge hit to incite the crowd.

After receiving the punt, J.T. Barrett immediately went to work with a 2-play, 77-yard drive where he found Campbell on a swing pass, where Campbell took it 69-yards to the house.  Although it wasn’t a downfield pass, the initial drive took a mere 29 seconds, which is a vast improvement for this offense although it is against inferior competition.

On the ensuing UNLV drive, they stalled once again as they attempted a 52-yard FG which was sent away and blocked by Dre’Mont Jones.  After Barrett took over, he went 65-yards and found Johnnie Dixon for a 16-yard score pushing the lead to 14-0.

The Rebels then had the ball and took it 20-yards prior to punting the ball again, but as soon as the Buckeyes began to threaten again, Campbell took a huge hit and he fumbled the ball inside of the 2-yard line for their first turnover of the game.  The momentum stayed in the Buckeyes corner as Dre’Mont Jones stuffed the run and got to the ball carrier for a safety to push the lead 16-0.

With the momentum clearly in the Buckeyes favor, they went 3 for 3 on 4th down for short touchdowns to Victor, McLaurin and Hill.  The set-up for each of these touchdowns came courtesy of BIA Damon Arnette and Damon Webb even though they’ve had a rough day penalty wise.  The penalties incurred have cost the Buckeyes their shutout as Lexington Thomas put it in the end zone.

Barrett finished his day with 12 for 17 for 209 yards and 5 touchdowns falling 14 yards short of 10,000 yards before giving way to Dwayne Haskins who threw a dart to former walk-on C.J. Saunders for a 28-yard score in traffic.

Second Half:

Once again plagued by costly penalties, this time with a roughing the punter penalty, Ohio State surrendered their second rushing touchdown of the day to Thomas as he took it 55-yards to the end zone.

After a punt the Haskins threw another score to former DL Rashod Berry for a 38-yard score to push their lead to 54-14.  The key stat of the day?  The Buckeyes have found 7 different receivers for a score, which is a new BIG 10 record.

The Silver Bullets have been all over the UNLV backfield.  Time and time again, they have played with their hair on fire, and for their effort, they have racked up 12 tackles for losses.

In the 4th, Haskins made his first major mistake as a Buckeye as he forced the ball to a blanketed receiver, which resulted in a 65-yard interception return for UNLV to make the score 54-21.  This will be looked at as a valuable lesson in a game that has already been decided, but he will do nothing but grow from here on out.

With the backup linemen in the game, the Buckeyes stalled after giving up a sack and now they have their second punt of the game.  Drue Chrisman has been a weapon for the Buckeyes after he pinned UNLV on their 15-yard line.

Jeffrey Okudah made an appearance during mop-up duty as he batted down a pass after pressure was put on the UNLV QB.  They failed to convert on 3rd and long and they lined up for another FG attempt, which sailed wide right.

The Buckeyes drove into the red zone once again, but unfortunately, Berry was stripped once again for their second fumble inside of the 5-yard line.  This turnover resulted in no points after the defense clamped down to force a punt.

With the Buckeyes tying their team record, they give Joe Burrow a few reps after being cleared from an injury to his throwing hand.  He was 4-4 for 37 yards with two passes to Trevon Grimes and one to C.J. Saunders before Haskins came out for the victory formation.

An impressive win over another inferior non-conference foe, but they are continuing to build their confidence prior to heading into conference play.

 

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