Ohio State Buckeyes vs Navy Midshipmen Match Player Stats On Aug 30, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 30, 2014

No. 6 Ohio State 34, Navy 17: Freshman J.T. Barrett passed for 226 yards and two touchdowns as the Buckeyes began life without Braxton Miller by overcoming the upset-minded Midshipmen at Baltimore.

Barrett, who became the starting quarterback when Heisman Trophy hopeful Braxton Miller went down with a season-ending shoulder injury, completed 12-of-15 passes - including an 80-yard touchdown to Devin Smith in the third quarter - to put Ohio State (1-0) ahead for good. Freshman linebacker Darron Lee returned a fumble for a score while Ezekiel Elliott and Michael Thomas added touchdowns for the Buckeyes, who won their 25th consecutive regular-season contest - best in the nation.

Navy shredded Ohio State for 370 yards on the ground but the Buckeyes held quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who set an NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 31 last season, to 42 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Ryan Williams-Jenkins led the Midshipmen with a career-high 118 yards.

Navy took a 7-3 lead during the first minute of the second quarter when DeBrandon Sanders reached out and touched the pylon with the ball for a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 after Ohio State denied Reynolds the end zone on three straight tries. Parrish Gaines preserved the lead for the Midshipmen when he intercepted Barrett at the Navy 3 midway through the second quarter as the Buckeyes settled for a pair of field goals - 46 and 28 yards - from Sean Nuernberger in the first half.

After Lee scooped up a poor exchange between Reynolds and Demond Brown and raced 61 yards to put Ohio State ahead 13-7, Navy answered with an 84-yard drive in four plays - the first a 67-yard run by Ryan Williams-Jenkins and the last a 1-yard TD plunge by Reynolds. Barrett connected with a wide-open Smith with 4:10 left in the third before Elliott's 10-yard TD run capped an 80-yard drive with 8:54 remaining and Thomas' 9-yard TD catch finished the scoring with 2:09 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ohio State was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Navy 45 in the third quarter after it appeared Elliott gained a first down on the previous play, but the officials ruled he fumbled - with the recovery resulting in a three-yard gain instead of five. Replays revealed Elliott fumbled after he was down, but the play was inexplicably not reviewed. ... Urban Meyer improved to 13-0 in season openers as a head coach while the Buckeyes moved to 5-0 versus the Midshipmen. ... Reynolds was 2-for-4 passing for 20 yards.