Scarlet and Game
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Ohio State Football: Buckeye Leafs for FAU game

By Peter Burtnett

COLUMBUS, OH - AUGUST 31: Head Coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes watches his team warm up before a game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ohio Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - AUGUST 31: Head Coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes watches his team warm up before a game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ohio Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – AUGUST 31: Quarterback Justin Fields #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes completes a pass to K.J. Hill #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes for a first down in the third quarter against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ohio Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Florida Atlantic 45-21. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – AUGUST 31: Quarterback Justin Fields #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes completes a pass to K.J. Hill #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes for a first down in the third quarter against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Ohio Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Florida Atlantic 45-21. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

Ohio State returned to the field today against Florida Atlantic. Here’s my initial reaction to how they fared against the Owls. 

Right from the start, the Buckeyes showed how large the talent disparity was after a solid return by Demario McCall and a 51-yard TD rush by Justin Fields on the first drive. In the first half as a whole, the defense shut down the Owls offense, holding their offense in negative yardage for most of the first half (minus-14 at halftime).

The theme of the first half for both defenses was stopping the run, with running room coming at a premium apart from Fields’ TD run. J.K. Dobbins ran for 62 yards on 12 carries, but failed to break off a run longer than a dozen yards, and ended the game with 91 yards on 21 carries

In the first quarter, the passing coverage of FAU was poor. The Buckeyes scorrd touchdowns on 3 passes, including a 25-yarder to Jeremy Ruckert, a 32-yarder to Binjimen Victor and a 29-yard pass to Chris Olave (who led receivers with 68 yards on 5 receptions).

However, the second quarter brought impressive defense from both teams, as Chase Young over-achieved even his high expectations with multiple sacks and tackles to lead the way for Ohio State, and FAU kept Dobbins, Fields and McCall from large running gains.

Jashon Cornell and Malik Harrison also impressed, racking up the tackles and forcing several TFLs. Jeffrey Okudah also played to a superb level in coverage, leading the way for the Buckeye secondary.

As a whole, the Silver Bullets showed improvement in the first half from last year by avoiding giving up big plays to the Owls.

The return game was also impressive for the Buckeyes, especially early in the game as Demario McCall picked up 96 total yards on kick and punt returns.

Offensively, both teams got lazy in the second quarter, and the Buckeyes got sloppy, with a backwards (or parallel) pass from Fields and a fumble by Dobbins, both recovered by FAU.

Now a look at how the Buckeyes played after the halftime break.

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