While dominant wins don’t always make for the most exciting football, they do give us the opportunity to get some guys on the field who are usually deeper in the rotation. On Saturday, this meant we got to see more of sophomore running back James Peoples, who has played this season but in a much smaller role than many expected at the start of the season.
He made up for it with two touchdowns in Ohio State’s 48-10 routing of UCLA, including one absolutely bonkers highlight in which he morphed into
a track star momentarily. On a night where the Buckeyes were mostly without their top receiving targets (Carnell Tate sat out a second consecutive game with lower leg tightness, while Jeremiah Smith was listed as questionable before the game and played for just part of the first half), they had to rely more heavily on a run game that has struggled to find its rhythm at times this season.
Bo Jackson, Isaiah West, and Peoples rose to the occasion, logging 215 rushing yards and four touchdowns between the three of them, the highlight of which was the first of Peoples’ second-quarter touchdown run.
How it happened
With under two minutes to play in the first half, a defensive pass interference call on UCLA brought up a Buckeye first down from the Bruins’ 19-yard line. On first-and-10, Peoples took a handoff from quarterback Julian Sayin around to the right side. At the 9-yard line, Bruins defensive back Cole Martin looked poised to make a tackle.
Peoples had other plans, hurdling him, landing at the 7-yard line, and continuing on into the end zone for his first of two touchdowns.
Watch him fly through the air here:
Bonus highlight: Lorenzo Styles has Buckeyes’ first 100-yard kickoff return since 2005
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give an honorable mention to cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. for his 100-yard kickoff return, the first for Ohio State since Ted Ginn took it to the house at Minnesota in 2005, and the first kick return score in 15 years.
Styles, who played wide receiver at Notre Dame before transferring to Ohio State and shifting to cornerback, showed his receiving chops are still intact on the third-quarter return, which immediately followed UCLA’s only touchdown of the day.
Styles fielded the ball on the right side of the endzone but ran to the far side of the field to take advantage of a wide gap. Near-perfect blocking by the Buckeyes put Styles in the clear, allowing him to go the full length of the field on the return, neutralizing any momentum the Bruins had from their touchdown.
Watch the spectacular return here:
