COLUMBUS, Ohio - As the journey back through the 2019 season continues here at BuckeyeGrove, Ohio State played the role of a rude host when Miami (Ohio) came in to take on a Buckeye team that was rapidly becoming the Goliath of college football.
After securing the first Big Ten win of the season in a road trip to Indiana, the 3-0 Buckeyes returned home to face off with an in-state MAC school. While the win came as no shock, the dominant fashion in which Ohio State carried out its business was something to behold.
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Ohio State was hit with its first deficit of the season when Justin Fields was stripped in the end zone to give Miami (Ohio) a 2-0 lead. While it was not adversity that caused grave concern for the Buckeyes, it was the first taste of things not being perfectly smooth in the early going.
The Buckeyes would eventually use the second quarter as a launch pad, and the 15 minutes would prove to be a historic period for a team that was beginning to look like a historic team.
This doesn't happen much...
Fields had been sound with the football up to this point in the 2019 season, so it is almost fitting that his first turnover would come on a play that was not necessarily his fault.
While the ball tumbled out of play for a safety, Ohio State fans were probably wishing to erase the play from their memories, but instead, they should have been appreciating the rarity of the event. For a first-year starting quarterback's turnover to be a shocking event is a major accomplishment, because it showed that Fields had built a reputation of taking care of the football.
Fields would cough the ball up a few more times throughout the rest of the season, but it was his ball security all year that would allow he and the Buckeyes to find consistent offensive success.
Defense locks in after odd start
After the offense suffered a safety and the defense allowed Miami (Ohio) to march down the field for a field goal, the Buckeyes trailed 5-0 in the first quarter. The small deficit was apparently enough to light a fire under the Ohio State defense, which would surrender no points the rest of the way.
Coming off a shutout victory over Cincinnati and a dominant effort against Indiana, the Ohio State defense was able to prove its past performances were not flukes. Behind new co-defensive coordinators Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison, the Buckeyes were able to show a new level of connectivity and grit.
Ohio State would only surrender 132 total yards to the Redhawks, and a completion percentage of 35 percent would ensure that the airways were not open against the Ohio State secondary. The Buckeyes would also turn Miami (Ohio) over three times in the second quarter.
