It would be odd to say that the Buckeyes did not play great in the season opener at Ohio Stadium. Despite winning by a significant margin, it would be the highest points scored ever in Meyer’s 15 years of coaching the Buckeyes set a school record of having 776 total yards of offense which is incredible.
Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett was named the Big Ten offensive player of the week after having passing yards of 349 and scoring six touchdowns and even rushing for one score against the Falcons. Barrett solidified himself as a potential Heisman candidate after his outstanding performance last Saturday which he accounted for seven touchdowns which are the most that have scored by any player in Ohio State history. The defense held the Bowling Green to just about 2.5 yards per rush and also had three interceptions.
The No. 4, Buckeyes and head coach Meyer are focusing their attention on Tulsa and getting ready for the game on Saturday which is the second nonconference opponent on their schedule this season. This will be the first time that these two teams will meet this Saturday (3:30 p.m. ABC) at Ohio Stadium.
Tulsa’s D’Angelo Brewer has continued to where he left off last season where he rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1. The Hurricane’s defense had a terrific performance last Saturday when they attack and only allowed just about 53 yards on 32 carries when they played San Jose State.
The Golden Hurricane is going to have a difficult task when they face the Buckeyes, and their secondary is going to get hit and hit hard. They held up pretty well against San Jose passing game which was supposed to be a lot better than it showed in the opening loss 45-0 but again the Buckeyes has the right talent and the perfect scheme to be able to spread the ball around and come up with big play after play.
Tulsa has enough of an offense to come up with a couple of points on the board to keep this offense from getting out of hand, but it’s the defense that won’t hold up. It won’t be the razor-sharp performance that the Buckeyes came up with playing against Bowling Green, but it’ll be quite impressive.
Urban Meyer talks about his offense and what they are looking to do when they face Tulsa here is what he had to say, “I think when you hear spread, it’s about numbers,” Meyer said. “So I think that part is similar (to Ohio State’s offense). … But the identity is we’re going to line up and hammer the football and run the ball. And we expect to lead the conference or be close to the lead in rushing offense.
This means that Ohio State’s offense and defense are going to be extra prepared and ready for anything and everything when they face Tulsa. Meyer talks about how challenging it would be when facing their opponent here is what he had to say, “We’ve got a tough one coming up this week, a team that beat San Jose soundly from the get-go,” Meyer said. “And very talented receivers, two NFL prospects at wide receiver, a returning veteran at quarterback (Dane Evans) and a D coordinator (Bill Young) who used to coach here at Ohio State. They are very sound on defense and do a nice job.”
