COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Linebacker Tuf Borland never got to see the field for Ohio State until Saturday's 38-7 win vs. Army. And when he got in, he admitted his head was spinning a bit.

When he had to fill in and replaced senior Chris Worley, who suffered a sprained foot according to coach Urban Meyer in the first half, Borland became an unexpected key of the Buckeyes' rush defense.

Borland recorded a game-high 10.5 tackles as he and Jerome Baker were usually the only two linebackers on the field for OSU.

"I kind of knew I was going to be rotating in. But I didn't know my role was going to be to that extent," Borland said. "We pride ourselves on being ready when our numbers are called. I just got the opportunity tonight. I'm just thankful."

Against Army's triple-option, the Buckeyes had four down linemen, two linebackers -- Baker and Borland -- and three safeties.

Army rushed for 259 yards. But the Black Knights averaged just 4.5 yards per carry and scored only seven points.

Borland had just one tackle in the first half. He was in on five tackles in the second half just against Army fullbacks Darnell Woolfolk (15 carries, 74 yards, TD) and Andy Davidson (seven carries, 54 yards).

"I think we had great effort today," Borland said. "We swarmed to the ball. It's kind of what we pride ourselves on.

"(Army is) very disciplined. You have to be in the right spots all the time. You have to have everything covered in every situation. I think we did a pretty good job."

Borland is Worley's primary backup at middle linebacker and will likely stay the backup when Worley gets back to 100 percent. But after what he showed on Saturday, Meyer isn't necessarily ruling out more playing time for Borland.

"Worley is a leader. But anybody that plays well gets an opportunity," Meyer said.

Here are more notes, quotes and nuggets from the Buckeyes' win on Saturday.

* J.K. Dobbins shined with 172 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. But just as impressive was that the freshman did not have a loss on any carry.

His last carry was a one-yard run in the fourth quarter, which dropped his yards per carry average from 14.3 to his final number of 13.2.

"To be honest, I knew I would get a good start," Dobbins said. "But I didn't think it would be anything like this. I just feel like I can only continue to get better."

Three games into his college career, Dobbins has rushed 55 times for 425 yards and three touchdowns.

* Army dominated the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for 36:57. That's the stat teams like Army like to have against bigger schools.

But while Army worked the clock, Ohio State actually ran more plays, 69-66, because of the Buckeyes' tempo. And they averaged more than double the yards per play (8.5) than Army (4.2).

* Army had drives of 9:37, 6:10 and 5:56. Ohio State's longest drive was 4:36, and that was the final drive of the game when Dwayne Haskins made his debut.

* Ohio State entered Saturday's game with 16 first-half points. The Buckeyes had 14 in the first quarter alone and 17 at halfitme.

* A pair of young Ohio State receivers enjoyed a day of firsts. Sophomore Austin Mack caught his first career touchdown, and freshman Trevon Grimes made his college debut and caught his first pass.