College football: Buckeyes pull away in second half, beat Ohio

COLUMBUS — Julian Sayin passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns, Jeremiah Smith found the end zone twice and top-ranked Ohio State pulled away in the second half for a 37-9 victory over Ohio on Saturday night. Ohio (1-2) pulled to 13-9 early in the third quarter when Parker Navarro connected with Chase Hendricks for a 67-yard touchdown. However, the Buckeyes took control by scoring on their next four drives. Jayden Fielding's third field goal put the Buckeyes (3-0) up 16-9 before Sayin found Smith for a 47-yard touchdown and Carnell Tate for a 49-yard score to make it a three-score game. Smith, who had a career-high nine receptions for 153 yards, put it out of reach by going around left end on a 17-yard reverse to make it 37-9 midway through the fourth quarter. The sophomore also became the fastest player in school history to reach 1,500 yards receiving, reaching the mark in his 19th game. Sayin completed 25 of 32 passes. He had his second straight 300-yard game but also had two interceptions. Bo Jackson had 109 rushing yards on nine carries and Tate had five receptions for 101 yards and a TD. The Buckeyes had 572 yards of total offense, including four plays of at least 42 yards, and held the Bobcats to 181. Navarro completed six of 13 passes for 94 yards. The senior suffered a wrist injury late in the first quarter and didn't come back until after halftime. Battlin' mascots After 15 years, Brutus Buckeye finally got revenge on Rufus the Bobcat. Brutus won a tug-of-war and 100 yard dash against the rival from Ohio University during the second quarter. This was the first football meeting between the schools since 2010, when Rufus went feral and tackled Brutus from behind in the end zone after Ohio State ran out on the field. Rufus jumped Brutus from behind and then landed a couple of punches to the head before both were separated. The incident went viral on social media and was a topic of conversation leading up to the game. Brandon Hanning, who was inside the Rufus costume in 2010, told The Athletic in 2020 that "Literally, the sole purpose of me doing the mascot thing was to tackle Brutus Buckeye." After Ohio State took a 6-0 lead with 9:58 remaining in the first half, Rufus appeared in the North end zone with a WWE championship belt while footage of the infamous tackle played on the scoreboard. Brutus then came out of the tunnel to John Cena's "The Time is Now" entrance music. Brutus then won the tug-of-war to even the score at 1-1. At the next media timeout, Brutus took the belt from Rufus by easily winning a 100-yard dash. Rufus then held up Brutus' hand as the victor and both mascots made up before going to their respective sidelines. Making things interesting Hendricks' 63-yard TD was the longest catch of his career. The junior caught the ball in stride at the Buckeyes 41, revered field, stiff armed an attempted tackle by Ohio State cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. at the 23 and then outraced other Buckeye defenders into the end zone. Ohio kicker Brack Peacock missed the extra point to keep Ohio State's advantage at 13-9. The takeaway Ohio: The Bobcats beat West Virginia last week and came within three points of beating Rutgers in the opener. They made it a game for 31 minutes at the Horseshoe before running out of steam. Ohio State: Coach Ryan Day won't like the lapses and turnovers, but at least there are plenty of things he can point out on tape that can be corrected before the Buckeyes begin Big 10 play in two weeks. Up next Ohio: Hosts Gardner-Webb next Saturday. Ohio State: Has a bye week before a game at Washington on Sept. 27.