Ohio State Buckeyes: What to know about Saturday’s game vs. Tulsa

Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

TV/Radio: FS1/1410

Series history: Ohio State leads 1-0.

Last game: The Buckeyes returned two interceptions for touchdowns and waited out a weather delay en route to a 48-3 win at home over Tulsa in 2016. Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore both had pick-sixes and Ohio State ran for 258 yards on the afternoon.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 24-3 three seasons, including 16–0 in the Big Ten. Tulsa’s Phillip Montgomery is 31-42 in seven seasons at Tulsa, his only head-coaching stop so far. He is 0-1 against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes are fourth in the country in passing yards and No. 8 in total offense… A rebuilding and struggling defense has already had 33 different players on the field this season for Ohio State while 25 different players have seen action on offense… Ohio State is 31-3-1 against current members of the AAC. That includes a mark of 17-0-1 since losing to SMU in 1950. The Buckeyes and Mustangs tied in 1978… Ohio State’s only player from Oklahoma, Josh Proctor, was lost to a season-ending leg injury last week… 2021 is the 100th season of football at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State is 453-113-20 in the Horseshoe… The color lavender will be prominent int he stadium Saturday in an effort to bring awareness to the fight against all forms of cancer.

Tulsa notes: The Tulsa roster has one player from Ohio: senior defensive lineman Elijah Taylor is a Cincinnati Moeller grad… The Golden Hurricane is 0-2 with losses by a combined seven points… Tulsa was projected to have a good defense, and that has been true so far. The Golden Hurricane are 13th nationally in tackles for loss with 18… Deneric Prince and Shamari Brooks have carried the ball a combined 50 times for 286 yards this season while receiver Keylon Stokes averages 19.0 yards per catch and quarterback Davis Brin has completed more than 60 percent of his passes… Sophomore Ethan Hall has not put up big numbers in his career, but Pro Football Focus ranked him among the top tight ends in the country last season... Safety Kendarin Ray also received high marks from PFF last season and has 24 stops so far this season.

Quoted: Montgomery’s recollections of the first meeting between the teams: “Played them pretty tough there for a little while. (Our quarterback) made a couple of throws there late in the second quarter — about three or four minutes probably left in that half — one was kind of a misread by the receiver and him just not being on the same page, another was just a tremendous play by Hooker coming across the field on a pick, but I thought our team played at a really high level that day for most of the day. Then we have the storm come in. I think we were in the locker room for about an hour and a half before we get back onto the field. At that point, I think they just tried to line up and pound on us at that point.”

Next game: The Buckeyes will be back home to take on Akron under the lights at Ohio Stadium in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Tulsa plays Arkansas State at home next Saturday at a time to be announced.

Prediction: Ohio State 54, Tulsa 17