Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs Ohio State Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Sep 10, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 10, 2016

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After dominating with a prolific offensive display in the opener, No. 4 Ohio State won with defense in Week 2.

The Buckeyes returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the final minutes of the first half that propelled them to a 48-3 victory over Tulsa on Saturday afternoon in a game delayed at halftime by more than an hour because of a thunderstorm at Ohio Stadium.

Safety Malik Hooker came up with the first pick six -- his third interception in two games -- and cornerback Marshon Lattimore followed with his second of the game in driving rain and Ohio State's third interception of the first half to send the Buckeyes to a 20-3 halftime lead.

Cornerback Gareon Conley added a third-quarter interception as the Buckeyes pulled away in the second half with 11-yard and 5-yard rushing touchdowns from quarterback J.T. Barrett, a 1-yard rush by running back Mike Weber and a 5-yard run by H-back Dontre Wilson.

Barrett passed for 149 yards and finished with 55 yards on the ground with the two TDs. Weber rushed for 92 yards and Samuel ran for 78 yards on eight carries and caught a team-leading five passes for 62 yards.

Ohio State's defense limited Tulsa to 188 total yards and forced six turnovers.

After bowling over Bowling Green with 776 total yards in last week's 77-10 opening win, Ohio State's offense wasn't nearly as dynamic in the first half against Tulsa. The Buckeyes managed just two first downs and 40 yards in the opening quarter and the offense was held to 158 total yards and produced no touchdowns in the first 30 minutes.

The Ohio State defense was dynamic, though, and delivered the two big plays with the Buckeyes leading only 6-3 late in the first half.

Hooker stepped in front of a pass from Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans and returned the interception 26 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 left before halftime. Then, with heavy rain falling in the final minute of the first half, the Golden Hurricane inexplicably tried to throw on third down from its own 24-yard line and Lattimore picked off a wobbly pass that slipped out of Evans' hand and scored from 40 yards with 33 seconds to go before halftime.

A late-summer thunderstorm that started late in the second quarter delayed the start of the second half.

When the teams returned, Ohio State controlled the game. Barrett scored from 11 yards on the first drive of the third quarter and added an early fourth-quarter touchdown as the Buckeyes scored 45 straight points after the early 3-3 tie.

The game couldn't have started much worse for Tulsa. Evans' pass on the first play of the came bounced off wide receiver Keevan Lucas' hands and was intercepted by Lattimore. But the Golden Hurricane defense held the Buckeyes to a 29-yard field goal by Tyler Durbin.

The Ohio State defense showed its mettle in the first quarter with a goal-line stand, but after the offense went three-and-out, Tulsa took over at the Ohio State 40-yard line and moved into position for a 37-yard field goal from Redford Jones with 3:22 left in the quarter to tie the score at 3.

NOTES: Ohio State LB Dante Booker missed the game with a sprained MCL. LBs Joe Burger and Jerome Baker filled in for him. ... Former head coach John Cooper is a member of the athletic Hall of Fames at both Ohio State and Tulsa. The 79-year-old Cooper was on hand for Saturday's game. ... Ohio State came into the game leading the nation in scoring offense and total offense after its blowout win in the opener last week. H-back Curtis Samuel was No. 3 in all-purpose yards. ... Tulsa is the smallest FBS school with an undergraduate enrollment of 3,473 and Ohio State is third at 55,508. ... Tulsa co-defensive coordinator Bill Young is a former Ohio State assistant. ... Tulsa and Ohio State met for the first time.