OSU center Pat Elflein wraps his hand around the football during the first game of the 2016 season against Bowling Green on Sept. 3 in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes won 77-10. Credit: Mason Swires | Assistant Photo Edit
Coach Urban Meyer couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season as 107,193 fans watched his Ohio State Buckeyes put on a historic offensive showing as they beat Bowling Green State University 77-10 in the ‘Shoe. A dominant showing by the Buckeye defense combined with redshirt junior quarterback J.T. Barrett’s seven touchdown performance helped the buckeyes start the season on a winning note.
Despite finishing the game strong, Barrett started off sloppy. With the Buckeye offense driving towards the end zone, Barrett threw an interception that sophomore Brandon Harris returned 63 yards as Bowling Green took a shocking 7-0 lead. However, Barrett rebounded putting together an impressive number of total yards on way to a rout over the Falcons.
With Barrett in control, the Buckeyes scored three unanswered touchdowns in quick succession. By halftime, the Buckeyes had already racked up 456 yards of offense and 24 first downs, led by five touchdowns from Barrett. The Buckeye defense also stepped up to limit the Falcons to only 244 yards on the day and a measly 3-for-16 on third down.
Despite getting taken out in the third quarter, Barrett still finished the game with seven total touchdowns, tying his own school record of six touchdown passes, while completing 21 of 31 passes for 349 yards. Junior H-back Curtis Samuel had an incredible day as he rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while adding nine receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber pounded out 136 yards rushing on 19 carries.
On the defensive side, redshirt sophomore Malik Hooker had two interceptions and freshmen Rodjay Burns added an interception for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to pad the score even further.
By the Numbers
776: Ohio State racked up a program record 776 yards of offense for the day.
15: Head Coach Urban Meyer might have had a case of déjà vu today, as he began his head coaching career with the falcons fifteen years ago.
95: With the win over Bowling Green, Ohio State has now gone an incredible 95 years without losing to another in-state school. Their last loss to an Ohio school was to Oberlin in 1921.
5: This was the fifth meeting all time between Bowling Green and Ohio State, with the buckeyes coming out on top in every matchup.
4: A total of four redshirt freshmen or true freshmen scored for the Buckeyes on Saturday.
67: The buckeyes won the game by 67 points, which was their largest margin of victory since defeating FCS school Florida A&M 76-0 in 2013.
9: A total of nine Buckeyes caught a pass on Saturday.
41: OSU gained 41 first downs against Bowling Green, the most since Cincinnati in 2014 where OSU had 45 first downs.
7: Not only did Barrett account for an individual program record seven touchdowns, redshirt freshman Joe Burrow threw his first touchdown pass with the Buckeyes making a total seven team passing touchdowns. That ties a school record that occurred in 1995 against Pittsburgh.
