No. 8 Ohio State bounces back with 38-7 rout of Army

(AP) Freshman J.K. Dobbins ran for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns as No. 8 Ohio State rebounded from a deflating loss to rout Army 38-7 on Saturday.

[btn-post-package-v2]

Dobbins broke away for an electrifying 52-yard touchdown run to open the second half after romping for 22 yards on the previous play, extending Ohio State's 17-7 halftime lead. The Buckeyes (2-1) then got touchdowns on two of their next three drives to pull away.

"He's a perfect tailback," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said of the youngster, who rushed for 181 yards in the season opener at Indiana. "He's the space player we need."

J.T. Barrett, the target this week of critics who suggested he should be benched after the 31-16 loss to Oklahoma , was 25 for 33 for 270 yards and two touchdowns, albeit against a less-talented defense than last week.

He looked especially slick on a drive in the third quarter when he hit tight end Marcus Baugh for 31 yards, then threw a perfect 20-yard scoring strike on a post route to Terry McLaurin in the end zone. That score gave him 106 touchdowns responsible for in his career, tying him for the all-time Big Ten lead with Purdue's Drew Brees. He broke the record on the next possession when he tossed a 9-yard scoring pass to Austin Mack.

"The heart of a lion," Meyer said of his quarterback. "He's one of the toughest players I've ever been around, so that's pretty good characteristics to have for the guy touching the ball every snap."

Army's triple-option threw off the Buckeyes at times and extended some drives, but OSU's athletic defensive ends kept it mostly contained. The outmanned Black Knights (2-1) compiled 278 offensive yards but didn't score after a 3-yard Darnell Woolfolk touchdown run in the second quarter.

"They outplayed us and outcoached us," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "For the first 30 minutes I thought we were slugging it pretty good, and there were times in the second half we were playing really good football, but you got to play that way for 60 minutes."

THE TAKEAWAY

Army: The Black Knights looked respectable in the first half, but couldn't run with the Buckeyes in the second.

Ohio State: After dropping the big one to Oklahoma last week, the Buckeyes took care of business against an outgunned team.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Ohio State: Probably won't move much after dominating in a game it was supposed to dominate.

UP NEXT:

Army: Plays Tulane at New Orleans.

Ohio State: Gets another tuneup game at home against UNLV.