J.T. Barrett played well in his Ohio State debut at QB. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)
BALTIMORE — In his college debut, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett completed 12 of 15 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns, leading the No. 5 Buckeyes past Navy 34-17 on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
Ezekiel Elliott added a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Darron Lee had a 61-yard fumble return for a touchdown as Ohio State overcame 370 rushing yards by Navy’s triple-option offense.
Navy led 14-13 late in the third quarter, but Barrett put Ohio State in front for good with an 80-yard touchdown bomb to Devin Smith. Then in the closing minutes, he clinched it with a 9-yard scoring pass to sophomore wide receiver Michael Thomas.
Ryan Williams-Jenkins rushed seven times for 118 yards to lead Navy. But Ohio State did well to contain quarterback Keenan Reynolds, holding the junior to 42 yards on 23 carries and two completions on four attempts for 20 yards.
Before 57,575 fans, Barrett had few anxious moments. The redshirt freshman, called on in the preseason to replace injured Heisman Trophy candidate Braxton Miller, threw an interception inside the Navy 10-yard line in the first half, but it was his lone glaring error.
No. 7 UCLA 28, Virginia 20
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — On a day when Brett Hundley didn’t look like a Heisman Trophy contender, his defensive teammates did the scoring. UCLA returned three second-quarter Virginia turnovers for touchdowns in a season-opening victory.
Ishmael Adams and Eric Kendricks ran back interceptions for scores and Randall Goforth sprinted 75 yards with a fumble as UCLA exploited the Cavaliers’ carelessness with the ball. That made up for an underwhelming performance by Hundley, who was held without a touchdown pass for only the third time in 28 career games.
No. 24 Missouri 38, South Dakota State 18
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Marcus Murphy’s 102-yard kick return created Missouri’s only points of the second and third quarter, and a fourth-quarter 30-yard touchdown pass from Maty Mauk to Bud Sasser provided breathing room for Missouri in a closer-than-expected game.
The Tigers’ retooled starting offense started strong, with touchdowns on three of its first four drives of the game. That included two long scoring passes from Mauk to Darius White, for 44 and 39 yards.
