August 31, 2019 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 45–21, at home over Florida Atlantic.

Home · Defending Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 5 45

Away · Challenger

Florida Atlantic 21

AP poll, week 1: Florida Atlantic unranked at Ohio State No. 5 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Ohio State came in 294 days into reign #306, which began with a win over Michigan State, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 12 more times before Clemson took it on December 28, 2019, 413 days after the reign began.

For Florida Atlantic this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t; this remains its only belt game.

This is the only time Florida Atlantic and Ohio State have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State's Justin Fields was absolutely dominant in the first quarter, leading the Buckeyes to an early 28-0 lead with four touchdown passes in the opening frame, including scoring strikes to Jeremy Ruckert, Binjimen Victor, and Chris Olave. Florida Atlantic managed a field goal late in the first half after recovering a Justin Fields fumble, but Ohio State's offense was simply too much, with Fields adding another touchdown pass to Ruckert in the third quarter. The Owls scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final score more respectable, but Ohio State's dominant first-half performance on both sides of the ball had already decided the contest well before the final whistle.

Justin Fields' four touchdown passes in Q1, establishing Ohio State's dominance early and making the game essentially over by the end of the first quarter
Florida Atlantic's two fumble recoveries in Q2 (forcing Fields to lose the ball at the FAU 49 and recovering a Dobbins fumble) preventing an even more lopsided deficit
Ohio State's 28-0 first-quarter advantage, which proved insurmountable despite FAU's late fourth-quarter scoring

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

Ohio StateFlorida Atlantic

Total yards469228

Rushing yards23722

Passing yards232206

First downs2417

3rd down conv.7/145/17

Turnovers21

Penalties–yards7–625–35

Time of possession32:0327:57

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 15:00	Florida Atlantic	+26 yd	Vladimir Rivas kickoff for 61 yds , Demario McCall return for 26 yds to the OhSt 30
Q1 13:07	Ohio State	+51 yd	Justin Fields run for 51 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 11:41	Florida Atlantic	+35 yd	Matthew Hayball punt for 37 yds , Demario McCall returns for 35 yds to the FlAtl 26
Q1 11:05	Ohio State	+25 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Jeremy Ruckert for 25 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 9:12	Ohio State	+32 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 32 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q1 7:52	Florida Atlantic	+29 yd	Matthew Hayball punt for 44 yds, fair catch by K.J. Hill at the OHIOST 39 FLA ATLANTIC Penalty, Personal Foul (-15 Yards) to the FlAtl 46
Q1 6:50	Ohio State	+29 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 29 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q2 9:44	Ohio State	+33 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 33 yds to the OhSt 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 6:32	Ohio State	-12 yd	Justin Fields run for a loss of 12 yards to the FlAtl 49 Justin Fields fumbled, recovered by FlAtl Quran Hafiz
Q2 1:39	Ohio State	+7 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for no gain to the OhSt 25 J.K. Dobbins fumbled, recovered by FlAtl Rashad Smith , return for 7 yds to the OhSt 25
Q2 0:33	Florida Atlantic	+28 yd	Vladimir Rivas 28 yd FG GOOD
Q3 12:23	Florida Atlantic	+28 yd	Vladimir Rivas 28 Yd Field Goal
Q3 13:16	Florida Atlantic	+38 yd	Chris Robison pass complete to Harrison Bryant for 26 yds to the OhSt 23 for a 1ST down OHIO ST Penalty, Roughing Passer (12 Yards) to the OhSt 11 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:37	Ohio State	+3 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Jeremy Ruckert for 3 yds for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q4 13:23	Florida Atlantic	+3 yd	Larry McCammon III run for 3 yds for a TD, (Chris Robison pass to John Mitchell for Two-Point Conversion)
Q4 10:43	Ohio State	+1 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 1 yd for a TD, (Blake Haubeil KICK)
Q4 10:43	Ohio State	+20 yd	Blake Haubeil kickoff for 61 yds , Deangelo Antoine return for 20 yds to the FlAtl 24
Q4 10:14	Florida Atlantic	+38 yd	Chris Robison pass complete to Tavaris Harrison for 38 yds to the OhSt 38 for a 1ST down
Q4 8:16	Florida Atlantic	+2 yd	Chris Robison pass complete to John Raine for 2 yds for a TD, (Vladimir Rivas KICK)
Q4 3:01	Ohio State	+46 yd	Blake Haubeil 46 Yd Field Goal
Q4 5:29	Ohio State	+21 yd	Master Teague III run for 21 yds to the FlAtl 32 for a 1ST down
Q4 8:16	Florida Atlantic	+26 yd	Vladimir Rivas kickoff for 65 yds , Demario McCall return for 26 yds to the OhSt 26
Q4 1:51	Florida Atlantic	+0 yd	Justin Agner pass intercepted Josh Proctor return for no gain to the OhSt 20

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Justin Fields	18/25	234	9.4	4	0	96.1
Chris Chugunov	1/1	-2	-2.0	0	0	12.5

Florida Atlantic

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Chris Robison	22/34	178	5.2	1	0	13.2
Justin Agner	3/5	30	6.0	0	1	39.3
James Charles	1/1	-2	-2.0	0	0	8.8

Rushing

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	21	91	4.3	1	17
Justin Fields	12	61	5.1	1	51
Master Teague	8	49	6.1	0	21
Marcus Crowley	4	27	6.8	0	8
Demario McCall	2	11	5.5	0	6
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Florida Atlantic

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
James Charles	10	25	2.5	0	9
Larry McCammon III	11	22	2.0	1	6
B.J. Emmons	1	1	1.0	0	1
Willie Wright	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Malcom Davidson	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Chris Robison	9	-24	-2.7	0	9

Receiving

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris Olave	5	68	13.6	1	29
Binjimen Victor	2	65	32.5	1	33
Jeremy Ruckert	4	38	9.5	2	25
Austin Mack	2	21	10.5	0	12
K.J. Hill	3	21	7.0	0	11
J.K. Dobbins	1	14	14.0	0	14
Demario McCall	1	7	7.0	0	7
Jaelen Gill	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2

Florida Atlantic

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Harrison Bryant	6	79	13.2	0	26
Tavaris Harrison	4	57	14.3	0	38
John Raine	6	29	4.8	1	14
Dante Cousart	2	18	9.0	0	17
Larry McCammon III	3	15	5.0	0	12
John Mitchell	1	12	12.0	0	12
James Charles	1	8	8.0	0	8
B.J. Emmons	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Willie Wright	2	-10	-5.0	0	0

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Jordan Fuller	7	4	0	0	0	0
Jeffrey Okudah	6	4	0	1	1	0
Malik Harrison	5	3	1	2	0	0
Chase Young	5	3	1.5	1.5	1	0
Jashon Cornell	4	3	1	2	0	0
Baron Browning	4	2	0	1	0	1
Antwuan Jackson	3	3	0	1	0	0
Tuf Borland	3	2	0	0	0	0
Isaiah Pryor	3	2	0	0	0	0
Robert Landers	3	1	0.5	0.5	0	0
Jahsen Wint	2	2	0	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	2	2	0	0	0	0
Chris Olave	2	2	0	0	0	0
Javontae Jean-Baptiste	2	1	0	0	0	0
Tommy Togiai	2	1	0	1	0	0
Teradja Mitchell	1	1	0	0	0	0
Alex Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jerron Cage	0	0	0	0	1	0
Pete Werner	4	3	0	1	0	0
Brendon White	3	2	0	1	1	0
Sevyn Banks	2	2	0	0	0	0
Davon Hamilton	1	1	0	0	0	0
Amir Riep	1	1	0	0	0	0
Haskell Garrett	1	1	0	0	0	0

Florida Atlantic

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Akileis Leroy	6	5	1	1	0	0
Hosea Barnwell V	6	3	0	0	0	0
Jordan Helm	2	2	0	0	0	0
Leighton McCarthy	2	1	1	1	0	0
Meiko Dotson	1	1	0	1	0	0
Damian Horton	1	1	0	0	0	1
Teja Young	1	1	0	0	1	0
Kelvin Dean Jr.	1	1	0	0	0	0
Rashad Smith	11	7	0	0	0	0
Da'Von Brown	8	6	0	1	0	0
Quran Hafiz	7	3	0	0	0	0
James Pierre	5	2	0	1	0	0
Chris Tooley	4	3	0	0	0	0
Tim Bonner	4	3	0	0	0	0
William Davis	4	1	0	0	0	0
Korel Smith	3	2	0	0	0	0
Zyon Gilbert	3	2	0	0	0	0
Ray Ellis	1	1	0	0	0	0
Noah Jefferson	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ahman Ross	1	1	0	0	0	0
Malike Vigille	1	1	0	0	0	0
Armani Adams	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jaylen Joyner	1	1	0	0	0	1
Caliph Brice	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Ohio State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
J.K. Dobbins	1	1	0
Justin Fields	1	1	0

Florida Atlantic

Player	FUM	REC
Rashad Smith	0	1
Quran Hafiz	0	1
Dante Cousart	1	0
Larry McCammon III	1	0
Chris Robison	1	0

Interceptions

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Josh Proctor	1	0	0

Florida Atlantic

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demario McCall	3	52	17.3	26	0
Chris Olave	1	15	15.0	15	0

Florida Atlantic

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Deangelo Antoine	3	20	6.7	20	0
Meiko Dotson	4	10	2.5	10	0

Kicking

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blake Haubeil	1/1	100.0	46	6/6	9

Florida Atlantic

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Vladmir Rivas	2/2	100.0	28	1/1	7

Punt Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demario McCall	2	40	20.0	35	0
K.J. Hill	2	13	6.5	16	0

Florida Atlantic

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Dante Cousart	2	5	2.5	5	0
Meiko Dotson	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	4	175	43.8	0	0	59

Florida Atlantic

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Matthew Hayball	9	425	47.2	0	0	70

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401112251) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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