Freshman Braxton Miller threw two touchdown passes in his first career start and Ohio State suffocated visiting Colorado 37-17 on Saturday.

Miller, who became only the third freshman to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes since 1978, attempted only 16 passes, and Ohio State demoralized the Buffaloes with 221 yards on the ground.

Colorado dropped its 19th straight road game and couldn’t get anything going offensively. The Buffaloes didn’t get a first down until midway through the second quarter, when they were already behind 17-0 after Miller found Devin Smith with a 32-yard touchdown pass over the middle.

Two of Miller’s first three completions were touchdowns to Smith, the second coming on a beautifully thrown fade route for a 17-yard score that put Ohio State on top 27-7 six minutes into the second half.

The Buckeyes, who dropped from the Top 25 for the first time since 2004 after an ugly 24-6 loss at Miami last week, held Colorado to 75 rushing yards.

The Buffaloes haven’t won a true road game since a 31-26 victory at Texas Tech in 2007. They came in with only one turnover through three games, but committed two Saturday.

Ohio State avoided dropping consecutive games for the first time since 2004.