H-backs Curtis Samuel – perhaps the most valuable offensive player for Ohio State through two games – and Dontre Wilson also will test the Oklahoma front, not to mention fleet, slippery quarterback J.T. Barrett.
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Barrett emerged as a top quarterback in the Big Ten Conference as a redshirt freshman when he was thrust into the role of starter after Heisman hopeful Braxton Miller and guided the Buckeyes to an 10-1 record before suffering a broken ankle in a 42-28 in over MI in the final week of the regular season.
The Buckeyes’ defense has yet to allow a touchdown and has scored three of its own on interception returns. Sophomore Malik Hooker leads the FBS with three INTs this season. Baker Mayfield completed 14 of 20 passes for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The last time the team met, Ohio State posted a 24-14 victory over Oklahoma during the 1983 season in Norman, avenging a 29-28 loss in 1977 in Columbus on a last-second field goal. In fact, Kelly might be the best option because he is the closest match to Samuel’s speed and athleticism combination. But it will be a different ballgame against Oklahoma.
-Ohio State defensive coordinator is Greg Schiano, who previously served as head coach at Rutgers before taking the head gig for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The effort was good enough for fourth place in Heisman Trophy voting. That will be the difference in the game as the Sooners show up angry and ready to play. Redshirt freshman running back Mike Weber will have to continue his hot streak to start the season on the ground, while holding onto the ball securely-he lost a fumble last week.
“It’s not just what he can do as a quarterback”, Schiano said. “We had a lot of stuff thrown at us (defensively) last week, and I think it was good to get some experience with that stuff”. He tends to create things.
In a trailer that’s filled with plenty of Ohio State’s playmakers, touchdowns, pick-sixes, huge hits, truck sticks, and even deep passes, numerous Buckeyes’ best highlights from the first two games of the season are shown in the 1:15 video.
Mayfield said he doesn’t expect anything fancy from Ohio State, just skilled players who know their jobs.
“They’re just physical”, Mayfield said.
“You just hope the mechanics of the game, (them) playing on the road and not being able to adjust what they want to do to certain looks causes some problems”. “We’ve got a lot of respect for their personnel”.
Both coaches are relying on the OU-Houston game for strategic help. Edward said. Edward saw a game in Norman as a young boy when his dad was working as an assistant coach at Kansas. “We turned the ball over, made mistakes, couldn’t get a first down”.
Meyer said he took Barrett without personally scouting him, which he “hates to do”.
Ohio State-Oklahoma actually has some bulletin board material, and it came from a surprising source.
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“Kyler knows what his responsibility is, and, as a defense, he gives us great looks, whether it’s doing what the system tells him to do, running the zone-read, stuff like that”, Sooners linebacker Jordan Evans said. “We don’t have the one guy that’s your go-to guy yet”.
