J.T. Barrett throws five touchdowns as No. 10 Ohio State buries UNLV

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 10 Ohio State buried UNLV with an avalanche of touchdown passes in the first half and rolled to a 54-21 victory on Saturday in a nonconference mismatch at Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett threw for five touchdowns by midway through the second quarter and the only question from that point was whether the Buckeyes would cover the 40-point spread.

In less than a half, Barrett completed 12 of 17 passes for 209 yards before giving way to No. 2 quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Barrett, a senior, moved past Bobby Hoying and into second place in Ohio State career passing yards.

Haskins was impressive in his own right, adding two touchdown passes to give Ohio State seven for the day.

The redshirt freshman connected on 15 of 23 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns with one interception that was returned 65 yards for a touchdown by UNLV's Javin White with 13:00 remaining in the game.

Ohio State set a school record with seven different receivers catching a touchdown pass. Thirteen players caught at least one pass and nine had two or more receptions.

The Buckeyes accumulated 474 yards through and air and 664 total yards.

Freshman running back J.K. Dobbins, averaging 149.3 rushing yards in Ohio State's first three games, ran for 95 yards on 14 carries before taking the second half off.

UNLV running back Lexington Thomas rushed for two touchdowns in the second half, one of those a 55-yard breakaway. He gained 84 yards on 12 carries.

Ohio State raced to a 38-0 lead in the first 21 minutes of the game and led 44-7 at halftime.

Before the first half ended, six different receivers caught touchdown passes for the Buckeyes.

On Ohio State's second play of the game, Parris Campbell turned a short pass from Barrett into a 69-yard touchdown to set the tone.

Later in the first quarter, Barrett hooked up with Johnnie Dixon for a 16-yard scoring strike to make it 14-0.

The Buckeyes added a defensive score with 1:02 left in the first quarter when defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones tackled Thomas in the end zone for a safety.

Campbell returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Binjamin Victor to start the second quarter.

On UNLV's next possession, Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette intercepted a Rogers pass and returned it 42 yards to the UNLV 7-yard line. Barrett proceeded to put the ball in end zone again with a 4-yard pass to Terry McLaurin in the corner of the end zone for a 30-0 lead with 12:39 to go in the second quarter.

Barrett added his fifth touchdown pass of the half after an interception by Ohio State safety Damon Webb. An 11-yard hookup with K.J. Hill capped an 11-play, 59-yard drive.

UNLV ended the shutout with a 2-yard touchdown run by Thomas with 3:32 left before halftime.

Ohio State closed out the first-half scoring with Haskins coming into the game and throwing a 28-yard touchdown strike to C.J. Saunders.

Haskins added a 38-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Berry in the second half. Sean Nuernberger kicked a 30-yard field goal for Ohio State's final points.

NOTES: Ohio State backup QB Joe Burrow was cleared this week to play after suffering a broken hand in preseason practice, but QB Dwayne Haskins played ahead of Haskins, entering late in the second quarter. Burrow saw action late in the fourth quarter. ... Ohio State RB Mike Weber, slowed all season by a hamstring injury, sat out the game. ... UNLV is 5-39 against ranked teams. Its last win over a ranked opponent was in 2008 against Arizona State. ... Ohio State and UNLV met for the first time. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is 3-0 vs. the Rebels, winning twice while he was at Utah. ... Ohio State DE Nick Bosa boldly predicted a shutout during the week, but UNLV spoiled that with a second-quarter touchdown.