The Ohio State Buckeyes must have been ready to get away from an offseason of distractions and play some football.
The Buckeyes held Akron to less than 100 yards of offense, and amassed 524 yards themselves, Joe Bauserman hit Jake Stoneburner for three TD passes, and Ohio State won their season opener in Columbus 42-0 in Luke Fickell's debut as OSU head coach.
Stoneburner became the first Buckeye tight end to ever score three times through the air in one game.
With a game-time temperature of over 90 degrees, the only thing hotter than the weather was the Ohio State defense. Akron's starting quarterback Clayton Moore managed only 54 yards through the air on 6-of-16 passing, and the Zips totaled 90 net yards, including 35 rushing and 55 through the air.
Two Buckeyes each outgained the entire Akron team on the ground, with Carlos Hyde rushing 93 yards on 19 carries and Rod Smith adding 74 on 18 rushes.
Bauserman and Smith each scored a rushing TD in a game in which the scoreboard looked very symmetrical. Ohio State went 7-14-7-14 in scoring by quarter, and of course, the outgunned Zips had nothing but zeroes to show for their efforts.
Bauserman tallied the only score of the opening quarter when he carried it in from 15 yards out. In the second quarter he took to the air, hitting Stoneburner from 28 and 11 yard to send the Buckeyes into the intermission, for all intents and purposes, already a winner.
In the third quarter Bauserman and Stoneburner hooked up for the third straight time, this time from 2 yards out, before Ohio State turned to reserve quarterback Braxton Miller for the final stanza. Miller got in on the fun with a 14-yard strike to Devin Smith, and Rod Smith capped the scoring for the Buckeyes with a 2-yard run late in the game.
Bauserman finished 12-of-16 for 163 yards and the three scores, while Miller went 8-of-12 for 130.
Ohio State won the first-down battle 28-5.
The Buckeyes will stay with in-state opponents next Saturday when they entertain the Toledo Rockets (1-0) at noon in The Horseshoe.
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The Kent State Golden Flashes, meanwhile, headed to Alabama and were thrashed by the #2 Crimson Tide 48-7 in a game that the Southeast Conference power put away in the first quarter with three touchdowns.
Kent State's only score was on a 3-yard TD pass from Spencer Keith to Justin Thompson in the third quarter to make the score 24-7, but the Tide rolled to the last 24 points of the game to take away any whispers of an upset-hope for the visitors from the Mid American Conference.
Kent takes on Lousiana-Lafayette next Saturday in their home opener, while the Akron Zips will try to bounce back from today's drubbing when they entertain Temple, also next Saturday.