September 7, 2019 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt defended

Ohio State defends the belt, 42–0, at home over Cincinnati.

Home · Defending Holder

Ohio StateAP No. 5 42

Away · Challenger

Cincinnati 0

AP poll, week 2: Cincinnati 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 301 days into reign #306, which began with a win over Michigan State, with 5 defenses already behind it; this was its 6th defense. Ohio State went on to defend it 11 more times before Clemson took it on December 28, 2019, 413 days after the reign began.

For Cincinnati this was its 2nd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 2 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, Ohio State led the belt series 1–0; all-time Ohio State leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Ohio State dominated Cincinnati from start to finish, never trailing and building a commanding 42-0 victory to retain the belt. The Buckeyes struck first with a Justin Fields touchdown run in the first quarter, then systematically dissected the Bearcats' defense throughout the first half. A spectacular 60-yard J.K. Dobbins run in the second quarter set up another touchdown, and Fields found Garrett Wilson for a score just before halftime to make it 28-0. Cincinnati's offense sputtered all game, managing only 273 yards and turning the ball over twice, including a critical fourth-quarter fumble by Tavion Thomas that sealed the rout. Blake Haubeil's perfect 6-for-6 kicking performance underscored Ohio State's efficiency in this complete defensive and offensive showcase.

Justin Fields' early 7-yard touchdown run gave Ohio State an instant 7-0 lead and set the tone for Buckeye dominance
J.K. Dobbins' 60-yard touchdown run in Q2 broke open the game and demonstrated Cincinnati's inability to contain Ohio State's ground attack
Tuf Borland's interception return for 42 yards in Q3 prevented Cincinnati from mounting any offensive momentum and led to another Buckeye score
Cincinnati's two turnovers (fumble and interception) combined with only 3-14 third-down conversions rendered their offense completely ineffective

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 StateCincinnati

Total yards508273

Rushing yards270107

Passing yards238166

First downs3113

3rd down conv.7/113/14

Turnovers02

Penalties–yards2–2510–78

Time of possession31:2128:39

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	Cincinnati	+25 yd	Ryan Jones kickoff for 61 yds , Demario McCall return for 25 yds to the OhSt 29
Q1 9:00	Ohio State	+22 yd	Justin Fields run for 12 yds to the Cincy 27 for a 1ST down CINCINNATI Penalty, Defensive Holding (10 Yards) to the Cincy 17 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:28	Ohio State	+7 yd	Justin Fields 7 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q1 8:15	Cincinnati	+21 yd	Desmond Ridder pass complete to Josiah Deguara for 21 yds to the Cincy 46 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:00	Ohio State	+32 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to K.J. Hill for 22 yds K.J. Hill fumbled, recovered by OhSt for a 1ST down CINCINNATI Penalty, Defensive Holding (10 Yards) to the Cincy 46 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:29	Cincinnati	+32 yd	Sam Crosa 32 yd FG BLOCKED blocked by Chase Young Damon Arnette return for no gain to the OhSt 13 Damon Arnette fumbled, recovered by OhSt Tuf Borland
Q1 2:25	Cincinnati	+25 yd	Desmond Ridder pass complete to Alec Pierce for 25 yds to the Cincy 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:10	Ohio State	+24 yd	J.K. Dobbins run for 24 yds to the Cincy 43 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:40	Ohio State	+4 yd	J.K. Dobbins 4 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q2 11:20	Ohio State	+20 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Binjimen Victor for 20 yds to the OhSt 33 for a 1ST down
Q2 10:04	Ohio State	+21 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 21 yds to the Cincy 4 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:00	Cincinnati	-1 yd	Desmond Ridder sacked by Shaun Wade for a loss of 1 yard to the Cincy 26 Desmond Ridder fumbled, recovered by Cincy Chris Ferguson , return for 0 yards
Q2 7:26	Ohio State	+60 yd	J.K. Dobbins 60 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q2 3:25	Ohio State	+39 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 39 yds to the Cincy 11 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:53	Ohio State	+9 yd	Garrett Wilson 9 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q2 4:20	Ohio State	+24 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to K.J. Hill for 9 yds to the OhSt 25 for a 1ST down CINCINNATI Penalty, Personal Foul (15 Yards) to the OhSt 40 for a 1ST down
Q3 13:45	Cincinnati	+20 yd	Desmond Ridder pass complete to Josiah Deguara for 20 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Q3 9:10	Ohio State	+50 yd	Drue Chrisman punt for 46 yds, fair catch by Ryan Montgomery at the OHIOST 8 CINCINNATI Penalty, Offensive Holding (4 Yards) to the Cincy 4
Q3 3:32	Ohio State	+4 yd	Justin Fields 4 Yd Run (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q3 3:32	Ohio State	+30 yd	Blake Haubeil kickoff for 57 yds , Tre Tucker return for 30 yds to the Cincy 38
Q3 3:15	Cincinnati	+46 yd	Desmond Ridder pass complete to Alec Pierce for 46 yds to the OhSt 16 for a 1ST down
Q3 0:57	Cincinnati	-42 yd	Desmond Ridder pass intercepted Tuf Borland return for 42 yds to the OhSt 45
Q4 11:30	Ohio State	+5 yd	K.J. Hill 5 Yd pass from Justin Fields (Blake Haubeil Kick)
Q4 6:50	Cincinnati	+21 yd	Ben Bryant run for 21 yds to the Cincy 44 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:35	Cincinnati	+15 yd	Tavion Thomas run for 15 yds Tavion Thomas fumbled, recovered by OhSt Marcus Williamson

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	20/25	224	9.0	2	0	89.5
Chris Chugunov	2/2	14	7.0	0	0	94.9

Cincinnati

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Desmond Ridder	13/20	166	8.3	0	1	19.4
Ben Bryant	0/3	0	0.0	0	0	4.2

Rushing

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.K. Dobbins	17	141	8.3	2	60
Master Teague	11	60	5.5	0	13
Justin Fields	9	42	4.7	2	12
Steele Chambers	2	16	8.0	0	12
Demario McCall	5	11	2.2	0	5
Marcus Crowley	1	2	2.0	0	2
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Cincinnati

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Tavion Thomas	11	58	5.3	16
Ben Bryant	3	25	8.3	21
Michael Warren II	10	15	1.5	4
Ryan Montgomery	1	12	12.0	12
Desmond Ridder	9	-3	-0.3	13

Receiving

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Binjimen Victor	5	69	13.8	0	20
Chris Olave	2	60	30.0	0	39
K.J. Hill	8	57	7.1	1	22
Austin Mack	3	24	8.0	0	10
Garrett Wilson	1	9	9.0	1	9
Jaelen Gill	1	9	9.0	0	9
J.K. Dobbins	1	5	5.0	0	5
Jaylen Harris	1	5	5.0	0	5

Cincinnati

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Alec Pierce	4	93	23.3	46
Josiah Deguara	3	46	15.3	21
Thomas Geddis	1	13	13.0	13
Tavion Thomas	1	6	6.0	6
Trent Cloud	3	5	1.7	4
Rashad Medaris	1	3	3.0	3

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Damon Arnette	6	3	0	0	0
Jordan Fuller	5	4	0	0	0
Baron Browning	5	4	0	0	0
Malik Harrison	5	2	0.5	2.5	0
Pete Werner	5	0	0	0	0
Jeffrey Okudah	4	3	0	0	0
Brendon White	3	3	1	1	0
Chase Young	3	2	1.5	1.5	0
Josh Proctor	3	2	0	0	0
Amir Riep	3	1	0	0	1
Tuf Borland	3	0	0	0	0
Tyreke Smith	2	2	1	1	0
Dallas Gant	2	2	0	0	0
Teradja Mitchell	2	1	0	0	0
Javontae Jean-Baptiste	2	1	0	0	0
Cade Stover	2	1	0	0	0
Davon Hamilton	2	0	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	1	1	1	1	2
Blake Haubeil	1	1	0	0	0
Jashon Cornell	1	0	0	0	0
Jahsen Wint	1	0	0	0	0

Cincinnati

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Darrick Forrest	7	6	0	0	1
Ja'von Hicks	7	5	0	0	0
Cameron Jefferies	6	5	0	0	0
Jarell White	6	5	0	0	0
Michael Pitts	6	3	0	1	0
Malik Vann	5	3	0	0	0
Bryan Wright	4	3	1	1	0
Perry Young	4	3	0	0	0
Coby Bryant	4	3	0	0	0
Myjai Sanders	4	3	0	1	0
Curtis Brooks	4	2	0	1	0
Ethan Tucky	2	1	0	1	0
Joel Dublanko	2	0	0	0	0
Elijah Ponder	1	1	0	0	0
Trent Cloud	1	1	0	0	0
Vincent McConnell	1	1	0	0	0
Darrian Beavers	1	1	0	0	0
Jabari Taylor	1	1	0	0	0
Alec Pierce	1	1	0	0	0
Taj Ward	1	1	0	0	0
Marcus Brown	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Ohio State

Player	FUM	REC
Marcus Williamson	0	1
Damon Arnette	1	0
K.J. Hill	1	0

Cincinnati

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Tavion Thomas	1	1	0
Desmond Ridder	1	0	0

Interceptions

Ohio State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Tuf Borland	1	42	0

Cincinnati

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demario McCall	1	25	25.0	25	0

Cincinnati

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tre Tucker	3	61	20.3	30	0

Kicking

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Blake Haubeil	0/0	0.0	0	6/6	6

Cincinnati

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Sam Crosa	0/1	0.0	0	0/0	0

Punt Returns

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
K.J. Hill	3	25	8.3	9	0
Demario McCall	1	3	3.0	3	0

Cincinnati

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	3	129	43.0	0	0	46

Cincinnati

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
James Smith	8	335	41.9	0	0	48

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 401112252) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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