“I think Dane has done a good job, at least since I’ve been here with him, of relaxing and playing big in big games”, TU coach Philip Montgomery said.
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It would be hard to convince most Buckeyes fans that Ohio State was “not great” in the Ohio Stadium opener. Criticized for calling the game too conservatively on offense in last season’s shocking 17-14 home loss to Michigan State, Urban Meyer has been getting the most out of his offense since with 54.3 points per game and a 3-0 SU and ATS record over the Buckeyes’ last three games.
Ohio State redshirt junior quarterback J.T. Barrett passes the football during the Buckeyes’ season opener against Bowling Green at Ohio Stadium. Those are video-game numbers. Coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeye record is 51-4. The game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. E.T. on ABC.
Meyer is expecting a tougher test from Tulsa than Bowling Green.
“I think when you hear spread, it’s about numbers”, Meyer said. We’re all going after the ball to score touchdowns and just trying to stop them from scoring touchdowns. “And I can’t speak for everybody, but for me, that’s not how I operate well”. “But there are different fundamental differences to (Ohio State’s offense)”. Tulsa running back D’Angelo Brewer rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns last week on 22 carries. Tulsa has an experienced defense that held San Jose State to 53 yards on the ground. Tulsa is going to pound Ohio State’s interior defensive line, but the Hurricanes are going to play sideline-to-sideline. Tulsa, an American Athletic Conference team that is full of confidence after walloping San Jose State in its opener, tries to notch one of the biggest wins in program history. He finished 9 of 10 for 65 yards on Saturday and had some very nice throws. Same thing with most of the offensive linemen and Ohio State’s kickoff coverage unit.
Gone from the 2015 team are five defensive players who were among the top 80 selections in the National Football League draft, so the 2016 season is considered a rebuilding phase for the Buckeyes. If Barrett is able to meet these expectations or better throughout the season, he will be the captain of an all-time great Ohio State offensive attack. “We’re looking forward to it”.
The result is usually lopsided games like in the first weekend of the 2016 season: Ohio State 77-10 over Bowling Green; Miami 70-3 over Florida A&M; MI 66-3 over Hawaii; Illinois 52-3 against Murray State; Oklahoma State 61, Southeastern Louisiana 7. The Golden Hurricane will attempt to ignore more than 100,000 fans cheering against them and execute. The Golden Hurricane have a consistent rep of putting points on the board, as they also dropped 38 points at Oklahoma last season.
For one, they won’t see another team like the Buckeyes on their schedule the rest of the year. “It’s about what you have to do between those lines, and we’re going to approach that in the same manner as we’re going to approach the next week and the next week”.
Tago Smith, who replaced Keenan Reynolds as Navy’s starting quarterback, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
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–BOOKER QUESTIONABLE: Linebacker Dante Booker, who left the Bowling Green game in the first half with a sprained medial collateral ligament, is questionable for the Tulsa game.
