BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sporting Alert — Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was pleased with his team’s overall performance after the Big Ten favorite ran away from Indiana in the second half for a 49-21 win in a college football game on Thursday night.
The No. 2 ranked Buckeyes started the game slowly and trailed 14-13 at halftime, but picked up the pace in the third quarter, where they outscored the Hoosiers 22-7, to streak away to what turned out to be a very comfortable victory in the end at Memorial Stadium.
Meyer, who improved to 11-3 when trailing at the half, seemed calm during the early goings and he was satisfied to have gone on the road and opened up the season with a win.
“We will take 1-0 on the road, and a Big Ten victory. Much compliments and respect to our opponent, like we always have against Indiana,” the veteran coach, in his sixth season with the Buckeyes, said.
Ohio State Buckeye captain and quarterback J.T. Barrett
Meyer also addressed the performance of his senior quarterback J.T. Barrett, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score.
“The 3rd quarter was obviously the change in the game. J.T. (Barrett) still miss fired on some deep ball, but the crossing routes were working big for us,” he said.
“Our defense was exposed big time in the first half, our pass defense was awful. It was not complicated, they were just picking on the corners.
“The corners have got to step up, and see what’s coming in nine days against Oklahoma. If we don’t get that right, that’s a problem. We just have to get some things fixed, but game one and two you identify the problems, fix them, and get going.”
—Urban Meyer
True freshman J.K. Dobbins, who got the starting place for the injured Mike Webber, who sat out the game with a hamstring problem, rushed for a game-high 181 yards on 29 carries.
Dobbins’ performance set a school rushing record by a first-game freshman, but Meyer wasn’t surprised, stating that his star freshman is just getting started.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Meyer revealed. “I kind of tempered my emotions with you guys early on, because we have seen that since spring practice.
“He has had a hell of a camp. Mike Webber could have went tonight, he’s about 80%, and he was on call. We get Mike back next week, and that is going to be a nice one-two punch.
“J.K. has even more in the tank, I don’t think he had a big hit today. His long was only 35 yards, and he has breakaway speed. He was close a few times.”
