COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Down and disappointed, No. 22 Ohio State needed a lift.
A rout of an overmatched opponent couldn’t have come at a better time.
J.T. Barrett matched a school record with six touchdown passes – five in the first half – to lead the 22nd-ranked Buckeyes to a 66-0 victory over Kent State on Saturday.
”Where are we and do I like where we’re at?” head coach Urban Meyer repeated. ”You still have a sick feeling in your stomach about last week. But we’re moving forward.”
Consider the Buckeyes officially over their 35-21 home loss to Virginia Tech a week earlier.
”We had a pretty good idea what they were going to do,” said Barrett, the redshirt freshman who stepped in when three-year starter Braxton Miller was lost for the year after shoulder surgery. ”We worked on a game plan all week and it turned out pretty good for us.”
This one was over early, with the Buckeyes up 14-0 after the opening 5 1/2 minutes, 21-0 after a quarter and 45-0 at the half.
”Some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t play them,”’ Meyer said of the mismatch. ”I think you should play them. You can’t forecast when you make this scheduling that you’re going to have a new quarterback and a young offensive line. This is what the doctor ordered.”
Continue Reading: Barrett’s 6 TD passes lead No. 22 Buckeyes, 66-0
