Ohio State vs. Oklahoma: Score and Twitter Reaction

Saturday night was wide receiver Noah Brown's coming-out party. The sophomore caught four touchdown passes in No. 3 Ohio State's 45-24 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. 

Brown recorded 72 receiving yards on five receptions, with four of them hitting paydirt, while quarterback J.T. Barrett completed 14 of 20 passes for 152 yards to go with an additional 74 on the ground. 

More impressively, the Buckeyes defense held Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, who finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting last year, to just 226 yards through the air while picking him off twice. 

Oklahoma's opening drive was an 11-play, 65-yard venture deep into Ohio State territory. But then the offense stalled, and the Sooners were unable to get points on the board when Austin Seibert hit the upright on a 27-yard field-goal attempt. 

KOKH Fox's Curtis Fitzpatrick didn't mince his words when describing Seibert's attempt:

After a punt from either side, Ohio State took the lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter. 

On a 4th-and-1 from the Oklahoma 36-yard line, Ohio State fed the ball to running back Curtis Samuel, who turned on the jets to get the edge and take it to the house for six points:

Ohio State summed up his display in two words:

ESPN's Austin Ward presented the idea that it's Samuel who helps keep the Buckeyes' offensive engine running:

It was Ohio State's stellar defense that was next to take center stage. With Oklahoma going for it on a 4th-and-3 from the Buckeyes' 33-yard line, Mayfield's pass was tipped and intercepted by Jerome Baker, who returned it 68 yards for the score and a 14-0 lead. 

Joe Noga of Cleveland.com looked to recycle an old football nickname that once belonged to former New York Giants wide receiver Stephen Baker:

But the advantage wouldn't last long, as Ohio State had to kick the ball off to Joe Mixon. Fielding the kick at the 3-yard line, Mixon was quick to show that Samuel wasn't the only speedster taking the field on Saturday night. He burned Ohio State's special teams unit for a 97-yard score, via Fox College Football:

Patrick A. Stewart of FanSided tried to show how Oklahoma supporters were feeling after Mixon throttled the Sooners back into the game:

However, it shouldn't have even counted because Mixon released the football in celebration before crossing the goal line, as shown by College Football:

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was floored by the fact it wasn't caught by the officials or mentioned on the Fox telecast the moment it happened:

Mixon was quiet for most of the night, though: The running back only got nine touches for 78 yards.

But Oklahoma fans couldn't stay relaxed for too long because Ohio State punched right back at the start of the second quarter when Barrett hit Brown with a back-shoulder fade from four yards out to go up 21-7:

With six minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the half, Mayfield was picked off once again by Marshon Lattimore. Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan broke down just how immovable Ohio State's defense has been up to this point in the season:

On the next play, Barrett hit Brown once again for 37 yards to open up a 28-10 lead, much to the chagrin of Oklahoma fans and Ohio State opposition everywhere. CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli had to tell Buckeye haters an inconvenient truth:

"

Ohio State is a thing that you’re gonna have to deal with.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) September 18, 2016"

Ohio State's defensive shutout ended with 4:12 left in the first half when Mayfield hit A.D. Miller for a 35-yard score. 

But the Buckeyes hit back in dazzling style when Barrett connected with Brown for a third touchdown reception, which immediately became an early candidate for catch of the year:

USA Today's Nicole Auerbach agreed:

So did Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman:

It even got Lil Wayne's attention:

Brown wasn't done, though. With 10:39 left in the third quarter, Barrett hit Brown for his fourth reception and touchdown catch of the night. This time, it was from eight yards out, and Ohio State took a 42-17 lead. 

Oklahoma managed to pull a touchdown back when Mayfield hit Mark Andrews for a five-yard score to bring it within 18 with 4:06 left in the third. 

However, that was all it could muster against the swarming Ohio State defense, so the Sooners' playoff hopes were destroyed on Saturday night. 

It doesn't get much easier for them either, as they will face TCU and Texas in their next two games.

Ohio State, on the other hand, continues to make its claim as the premier program in the nation. Taking down a college football power such as Oklahoma in convincing fashion is a statement to the rest of the country that the Buckeyes are going to be in the conversation for a national championship all season. 

Ohio State doesn't have the most taxing upcoming schedule either, as Rutgers and Indiana are its next two opponents before a matchup against a Wisconsin team that narrowly defeated Georgia State on Saturday. 

Postgame Reaction

What made this win even more impressive to Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was his team's ability to go into a hostile environment and seemingly dominate.

"The maturity of the older guys," he said, per Ohio State's Twitter account. "They're no longer inexperienced ... This is one of the top five hardest places to play. From kickoff they swung their hardest ... For a lot of them this was their first road experience. They came of age today."

When it came to talking about Noah Brown, Meyer revealed that even he and his coaching staff were astounded by his third touchdown catch, per Bill Livingston of Cleveland.com: "I can't repeat the words I heard coming from (the coaches' box) upstairs after that catch."

While Ohio State celebrated, Oklahoma tried to come to terms with a tough loss at home. 

Mayfield kept it short when speaking after the game, per Livingston: "We got our (butts) kicked."

For a team that made the College Football Playoff last season, Oklahoma looks to be a shell of itself. Head coach Bob Stoops has observed a glaring problem, according to Oklahoma Football:

There is plenty of football left to be played this season, but Oklahoma is going to need a ton of help from numerous schools if it wants to see the same kind of success attained last year.