Kyle McCord completed 13 of 19 passes for 319 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and an interception while becoming the fourth true freshman to start a game at quarterback for Ohio State. McCord got the nod as regular starter C.J. Stroud rested a sore shoulder.
Akron struck first after the teams traded punts to start the game.
The Zips got the ball at their 45-yard line and needed nine plays to drive for a touchdown, a 4-yard pass from DJ Irons to Konata Mumpfield.
A 17-yard pass between those two set up the score and was the second third down conversion on the drive for Akron.
Ohio State answered quickly with a drive heavy on TreVeyon Henderson. The true freshman ran three times for 48 yards and the drive was book-ended by pop passes by McCord. The first went to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 22 yards, and the second went to Chris Olave for five yards and a touchdown.
After Ohio State forced a punt, the Buckeyes needed only three plays to take the lead. They opened the drive with a bubble screen to Garrett Wilson, who got a block from Olave and Jeremy Ruckert and slipped down the sideline for 57 yards. That set up runs of 13 and three yards by Henderson, who went over on the second for a touchdown that made it 14-7 Ohio State with 11 seconds left in the first quarter.
When you have a talent such as @GarrettWilson_V, you just give him the ball and let him do his thing. 🏃💨
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 26, 2021
No. 10 @OhioStateFB knows this. pic.twitter.com/uc7IjzyF4X
The Buckeyes struck again on their next drive when Smith-Njigba ran by the slot defender and hauled in a 34-yard pass from McCord to make it 21-7 with 10:23 let in the second quarter.
Cody Simon’s interception set up the next Ohio State touchdown, a 14-yard jaunt by Henderson on a toss play.
The defense kept it up on the following drive, pressuring Irons relentlessly and forcing him out of the pocket on nearly every play. He was intercepted again when he threw a ball into the left flat that went through the hands of Tristian Brank and bounced to Ronnie Hickman. The Ohio State linebacker/safety grabbed it and ran untouched 46 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-7.
He had his first career INT last week.
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) September 26, 2021
And now, he has his first career Pick-6.@asvprocket_ // @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/RDu4NTFZme
The Buckeyes tacked on three more when McCord found Wilson for a 39-yard pass play to set up Noah Ruggles’ 32-yard field goal with two seconds left.
After McCord was intercepted on the first drive of the third quarter, he hit Emeka Egbuka for an 85-yard passing play that set up a short touchdown run by Master Teague.
Teague struck again on Ohio State’s next possession, scoring from 15 yards out on a drive that included quarterback Jack Miller III making his season debut and completing two of three passes for 37 yards.
Evan Pryor added Ohio State’s eighth touchdown of the night when he bounced outside for a 12-yard score with 2:47 left.
The first true freshman to start at quarterback for Ohio State was Art Schlichter in 1978. It didn’t happen again until Terrelle Pryor in 2008, and Wayne High School graduate Braxton Miller became the third in 2011.
McCord posted the first 300-yard passing game by an Ohio State true freshman. He narrowly missed J.T. Barrett’s freshman record for passing yards in a game, 330 against Cincinnati in 2014 when Barrett was a redshirt.
Ohio State improved to 3-1 while finishing nonconference play. Akron fell to 1-3.
The Buckeyes play at Rutgers (3-1) next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
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