COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann was so exasperated with his team's offense at halftime of Wednesday's season opener against Cincinnati that he tore up the game plan and started over from scratch.

The adjustments led to the 18th-ranked Buckeyes rallying from a seven-point first half deficit to turn back the visiting Bearcats 64-56 in a rare regular season match-up between the state's two largest universities.

"That was a good, old fashioned rock fight there," Holtmann said. "It was the most physical opening game I have ever been a part of. Give Cincinnati a lot of credit. I thought they disrupted everything we wanted to do game plan-wise.