“Bigger challenges ahead,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “We’re heading into conference play, but the identity’s starting to build. That running game is starting build an identity and some confidence up front, which was needed.”
With a Big Ten battle at Michigan State on the horizon, here are five things to know about the win over Marshall:
1. There were some early struggles.
Ohio State piled up 307 yards on only 21 plays in the first half while Marshall had 203 yards on 46 plays and gained 14 first downs.
The visitors had four drives that lasted eight plays or more and possessed the ball for 21:47 in the first half.
That figure was partially inflated by Ohio State having scoring drives of one and two plays plus a four-play drive short-circuited by a Marshall interception.
Marshall opened the game with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead and got on the board again late in the second quarter with another sustained drive that was aided by a personal foul for roughing the passer.
2. The Ohio State offense ripped off big play after big play.
Ohio State averaged 9.98 yards per play, the fifth most in a single game for the Buckeyes.
That is going to happen when a team not only makes 11 explosive plays but four of 40 yards or more.
Emeka Egbuka scored on a 68-yard catch and run, Jeremiah Smith had a 53-yard sprint after catching a slant, Quinshon Judkins went 86 yards for a touchdown, and TreVeyon Henderson had a 40-yard scoring jaunt.
“We’re trying to stretch the field vertically,” Day said. “Once you do that, and you can start running the ball.”
All-Big Ten guard Donovan Jackson’s return to the lineup from injury also helped, and Day continued to cite the impact to quarterback Will Howard being a threat to run the ball himself rather than just hand off.
“That just changes the numbers,” Day said. “You think back when we had Justin Fields, and we had J.T. Barrett — it was just a different run game, and so, I think we started to see that come back a little bit. I thought (offensive coordinator Chip Kelly) again called a good game, good balance across the board.”
3. Judkins and Henderson were a dynamic duo.
In their third game together since Judkins transferred from Mississippi, the two all-conference running backs looked their best yet.
Judkins nearly reached the century mark even without his career-long run, which tied J.T. Barrett for the third-longest in Ohio State history. He finished with 173 yards on 14 carries and scored twice.
“I think the mindset of me and my teammates as a whole is to play with bad intentions,” Judkins said. “And I think that’s my mindset when I get the ball is I’m going to try and score. that’s my job. I’m going to do my job any way I can.”
Henderson had 76 yards on just six carries and also found the end zone twice.
4. The defense got dented a few times.
Ohio State’s defense was nearly flawless in its first two games, but the Thundering Herd were able to hurt the Buckeyes on the ground and through the air.
The visitors stretched the field with their formations and attacked with a long line of running backs while quarterback Stone Earle was effective running, too, and fit a few throws into tight coverage.
The Herd also stayed ahead of the chains early, and that helped them be efficient on third downs.
“Every team we go up against there are concerns or things on the scouting report we have to get ready for, and we executed some of those things, but there are also things we need to correct,” said senior safety Lathan Ransom, who had a team-high eight tackles and forced a fumble.
Marshall finished with 264 total yards, but only 61 came after halftime.
The Buckeyes only allowed one of seven third-down conversions after the break, too, after going 6-for-11 in the first half.
Marshall head coach Charles Huff came away a believer and compared the Ohio State offense to some of the best in recent memory at the college level.
“Defensively, they smother you, and they kind of just lean on you and weigh you down a bit, and that’s what happened to us today,” said Huff, a former Alabama assistant. “They kind of just laid on us long enough to wear us down. Offensively, I mean 2019 LSU, 2021 Alabama — they’re probably in that realm. I mean they’re really good, like really good.”
5. Will Howard did not regret his interception.
The senior quarterback who transferred from Kansas State has already spoken about learning one on one coverage means his new targets at Ohio State are open.
He took a shot toward Smith in first quarter only to have Marshall’s Josh Moten come away with an interception down the sideline.
Howard said that was still his best option based on the coverage and the play call.
“That was really the only option I had, and the plan all week was to let that thing rip and put it on the spot,” Howard said. “I’m going to trust No. 4 every day of the week and he’s going to go make that play.
“Sometimes things happen, and it’s football. We had to come back and bounce back and you know what, it’s part of the game.”
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