Buckeyes Hand Sooners Second Loss

September 17 | Norman, Okla.

¹⁴?Oklahoma

³?Ohio State

Quarter-by-Quarter
Team	1	2	3	4	F
^3?Ohio State	14	21	7	3	45
^14?Oklahoma	7	10	7	0	24

Team Stats
Stat	?OSU	OU
First Downs	22	19
Total Yards	443	404
Pass Comp-Yards	14-152	17-226
Rushes-Yards	48-291	35-178
Penalties-Yards	11-75	4-28
3rd Down Conversions	6-14	5-13
4th Down Conversions	2-2	0-3
Fumbles Lost	1	0
Interceptions	2	0
Time of Possession	35:49	24:11

NORMAN, Okla. -- With its impressive road performance Saturday night at Oklahoma, Ohio State posted a 45-24 victory that figures to lift the No. 3-ranked Buckeyes closer to the nation's No. 1 ranking.

On multiple occasions during his post-game interview session, Sooners coach Bob Stoops took responsibility for his team's poor showing, but accountability stretched across the board.

"That's my fault and us as coaches and the players playing," Stoops said. "All of us together weren't near good enough. We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to have any chance to win the Big 12. We'll keep a positive attitude. We'll keep working to improve."

Under head coach Urban Meyer, Ohio State has now won all 19 of its games on its opponent's home field.

A record-setting sellout crowd of 87,979 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (the 106th consecutive sellout) watched the visitors make a statement as the country's top team despite having fewer returning starters (six) than any of the other 127 FBS schools.

Earlier in the day, No. 1-ranked Alabama had to overcome a 24-3 first-half deficit at Mississippi and eventually survived with a 48-43 victory, while No. 2-ranked Florida State was dominated 63-20 at No. 10 Louisville.

"They're as good as anybody we've been out there playing with, no doubt," Stoops said of the Buckeyes.

Severe thunderstorms delayed Saturday's scheduled 6:30 p.m. start by 90 minutes, which promptly was followed by blown first-half opportunities and two turnovers by the Sooners that helped Ohio State take a 35-17 lead at intermission.

On the game's opening possession, OU drove 65 yards in 12 plays to the Ohio State 10-yard line, but came up empty when sophomore placekicker Austin Seibert's 27-yard field-goal attempt struck the top of the right upright.

The Sooners' third possession resulted in 68-yard interception return by Buckeyes linebacker Jerome Baker that gave Ohio State a 14-0 lead with 4:34 left in the first quarter.

The Sooners cut the deficit to 14-7 on the ensuing kickoff when sophomore Joe Mixon went 97 yards for a touchdown, but OU would never get any closer.

Early in the second quarter, Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield connected with wide receiver A.D. Miller on a 36-yard pass down to the Ohio State 3. On the next play, however, Mayfield was sacked for a 13-yard loss. That was followed by a dropped touchdown pass by receiver Mark Andrews and OU had to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Seibert to make the score 21-10.

The opportunistic Buckeyes cashed in on Mayfield's second interception as quarterback J.T. Barrett threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Noah Brown on the next play to take a 28-10 lead.

When Mayfield threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Miller with 4:12 left in the first half, it was the first touchdown scored against the Ohio State defense this season.

As was the case in the season-opening loss at Houston, the Sooners defense struggled in pass coverage. Brown tied a school record with four touchdown receptions, all coming in the east corner of the south end zone.

"(We're) not coached well enough and not athletic enough or skilled enough to put ourselves in position (to defend on pass plays)," Stoops said.

Statistically, the game wasn't nearly as lopsided as the final score. Ohio State had 443 total yards and averaged 6.5 yards-per-play compared to 404 yards and a 6.0 average for OU.

"I thought we moved the football pretty decent," Stoops said. "It's not like we weren't moving the ball ... You have some yards, but what's it do? You have to play together, so I don't look at it that way (in terms of total yardage). I look at it as a team. Each side failed each other. That can't happen. Everyone looks at yards. 'Yeah, that's great.' No it isn't when you throw a pick-six and miss a field goal. That doesn't work."

Mixon had 225 all-purpose yards with 132 on kickoff returns, 78 rushing and 15 receiving. "Joe had a great kickoff return and he seemed to have a lot of other nice plays," Stoops said.

The Buckeyes had steady success on the ground, rushing for 291 yards and averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Mike Weber gained 123 yards and averaged 6.8 per rush, while Curtis Samuel had 98 yards and averaged 8.9.

The No. 14-ranked Sooners, now 1-2 on the season, have an open date to regroup before opening conference play Oct. 1 at TCU.