NORMAN, Okla. — Austin Seibert's 27-yard field goal attempt hurdled toward the Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium uprights, only to thud against their bright yellow paint and careen helplessly to the turf.
With an early opportunity to take the first lead in the game, the Sooners saw what appeared to be a promising opening drive end with as many points as it started with: Zero.
Ohio State responded and scored not even three minutes later when Curtis Samuel raced around the edge for 36 yards virtually untouched on 4th-and-1. The Buckeyes scored five more touchdowns en route to firmly dispatching Bob Stoops' Sooners 45-24 on Saturday.
With Ohio State only outgained Oklahoma by 39 total yards and secured just three more first downs, numbers in the final stat book show why Urban Meyer pushed his road record to 19-0 as Buckeye head coach.
Ohio State Finishes +2 in Turnover Battle
The +2 figure might not seem like much but in a game between two programs nearly equal on talent it provided the spark Ohio State needed to build its lead. Jerome Baker's 68-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed the Buckeyes ahead 14-0 with 4:34 left in the first quarter.
Joe Mixon returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to keep Oklahoma afloat initially but Marshon Lattimore made quarterback Baker Mayfield pay for a poor decision nearly a quarter later. Mayfield avoided a rush by Nick Bosa, set his feet and hurled the ball toward midfield, only to have Lattimore snatch it out of the air. His 21-yard return set the table for J.T. Barrett's second touchdown pass to Noah Brown on the night, a 37-yard strike that pushed the lead to three possessions.
The Buckeyes did not commit a turnover in the game, though J.T. Barrett did fumble once. He recovered and Ohio State won by three touchdowns.
Ohio State's nine interceptions are nearly as many as it had a year ago (12) and four went for touchdowns in its first three games.
Red Zone Efficiency
Ohio State scored touchdowns on two of its four trips inside Oklahoma's 20-yard line, kicking a field goal on another. The only time the Buckeyes did not score points when it entered the red zone is on the game's final drive, when J.T. Barrett took a knee twice as the clock wound down.
On the contrary, Oklahoma scored just one touchdown on three red zone trips — Mayfield's 5-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews to make it 442-24 with 4:06 left in the third. The Sooners missed their chance to take the first lead of the game when Siebert's short field goal clanked off the upright on the game's opening drive.
Siebert made a 26-yarder nearly 4 minutes into the second quarter to make it 21-10. But 4- and 8-yard touchdown passes from Barrett to Noah Brown squashed any hope of a Sooner revival.
Ohio State got to the red zone on Saturday and scored points when it did.
Three Buckeyes Threaten 100-Yard Rushing Mark
Ohio State finished with 291 rushing yards on 48 carries against Oklahoma, a solid 6.1 yards per carry average. More impressively, the Buckeyes nearly had three players hit the century mark on the ground.
Mike Weber led the way with 123 yards on 18 carries — 6.8 yards per tote. Samuel recorded 98 yards on 11 carries (an 8.9-yard average) and Barrett ended his night with 74 yards on 17 tries.
If Meyer hadn't let off the gas pedal, there is a good chance the Buckeyes would have had three 100-yard ball carriers against a team that didn't allow more than 90 yards on the ground in its first two games.
