Today the Ohio State Buckeyes trounced the Florida A&M Rattlers, 76-0. The game was expected to be a rout — and it was. Ohio State had more than 600 yards of offense and only had to punt once. Florida A&M put up only 80 yards of offense and never got close to the Ohio State goal line. Ohio State was favored to win by 57 points, and it almost exceeded that line by halftime, when the Buckeyes went into the locker room ahead 55-0.
People here in Columbus complained about the quality of the game. It wasn’t a much-heralded match-up, to be sure, but it’s not entirely the fault of the OSU Athletic Department. The Buckeyes had scheduled Vanderbilt, but the Commodores backed out. So, Ohio State went looking for someone to fill the open date, and the Rattlers agreed to be the sacrificial lambs. We shouldn’t feel too bad for them, though — they got a nice fee for coming to Ohio Stadium and getting pulverized.
Although games like today’s aren’t competitive, they still can be interesting. You get to see players you’ve only heard about until now. Today, freshman running back Ezekiel Elliott had his coming out party, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns, and we got to see third-string quarterback Cardale Jones run the offense. They both look like they may be able to contribute in the future. Other players who’ve been working hard in practice had their chances, too. Carlos Hyde came back after a three-game suspension and got some touches, the OSU defense manhandled the Rattlers’ offense, and Braxton Miller got another week of healing as Kenny Guiton put up another OSU offensive record.
Next week, the season starts in earnest as Wisconsin comes to the Horseshoe. After next Saturday night, we’ll have a better idea of how good this Buckeyes team really is.
Webner House 