Ohio State bounces back with rout of Army
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Freshman J.K. Dobbins ran for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns as No. 8 Ohio State rebounded from a deflating loss to rout Army 38-7 on Saturday.
Dobbins broke away for an electrifying 52-yard touchdown run to open the second half after romping for 22 yards on the previous play, extending Ohio State's 17-7 halftime lead. The Buckeyes (2-1) then got touchdowns on two of their next three drives to pull away.
J.T. Barrett, the target this week of critics who suggested he should be benched after the 31-16 loss to Oklahoma , was 25 for 33 for 270 yards and two touchdowns, albeit against a less-talented defense than last week.
He looked slick on a drive in the third quarter when he hit Marcus Baugh for 31 yards, then threw a perfect 20-yard scoring strike on a post route to Terry McLaurin in the end zone. That score gave him 106 touchdowns responsible for in his career, tying him for the all-time Big Ten lead with Purdue's Drew Brees. He broke the record on the next possession when he tossed a 9-yard scoring pass to Austin Mack.
Army's triple-option threw off the Buckeyes at times and extended some drives, but OSU's athletic defensive ends kept it mostly contained. The outmanned Black Knights (2-1) compiled 278 offensive yards but didn't score after a 3-yard Darnell Woolfork touchdown run in the second quarter.
THE TAKEAWAY
Army: The Black Knights looked respectable in the first half, but couldn't run with the Buckeyes in the second.
Ohio State: After dropping the big one to Oklahoma last week, the Buckeyes took care of business against an outgunned team.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Ohio State: Probably won't move much after dominating in a game it was supposed to dominate.
UP NEXT:
Army: Plays Tulane at New Orleans.
Ohio State: Gets another tune-up game at home against UNLV.
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