Game 2 Recap: Ohio State 56 – Western Michigan 0
Recap
Ohio State defeats Western Michigan 56-0, and rolls into their bye week 2-0 in a weekend where Michigan lost, and Penn State and Oregon has a scare against Group of 5 teams. The Buckeyes looked dominate on both offense and defense in this game, with some things to work out on special teams, but it is hard to nit-pick when you post a shutout, post 683 totals yards, and hold Western Michigan to under 100 total yards.
The Buckeyes showed they tried to put an emphasis on their run game, and they rushed for 6 total rushing touchdowns to 2 passing touchdowns. They fell a little short of my predicted 300 yard game, but they still put up 273 yards on the ground and passed for 410 yards.
Ohio State held Western Michigan to a 3-and-out on their first series, and followed up with a 6 play drive capped with a TreVeyon Henderson touchdown. On their second drive, Will Howard connected with Jeremiah Smith on a mid range pass and Smith turned on the jets for a 70 yard touchdown. It was reported her reached 21.7 mph on his dash to the endzone with a trail of Broncos behind him.
On their third drive, the Buckeyes took a 6 play drive for a touchdown with a Quinshon Judkins run for 23 yards. The Buckeyes were held to a punt on their 4th series, but capped off their 5th series with another 23 yard Judkins touchdown.
“I think we played well tonight, but there’s still some plays we left out there, some meat we left on the bone,” Howard said. “I think that’s the exciting thing about this team. We have so many guys that are doing so many good things, but we can still build on it and grow and become a better team.”
Quinshon Judkins paced the running backs in this hame, rushing for 108 yards on 9 carries for 2 touchdowns. He almost had a long touchdown run that was called back due to a questionable holding penalty that could have added to his yardage. TreVeyon Henderson has 10 carries for 66 yards and 2 touchdowns on his own. James Peoples got more playing time in this game thanks to the dominate performance in this game, and had 10 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. Sam Williams-Dixon got into the game with 3 carries for 40 yards in the 4th quarter.
Jeremiah Smith led the receivers for the second straight week, catching 5 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Emeka Egbuka had 5 catches as well, and was just shy of hitting 100 yards also with 98 receiving yards. Bennett Christian caught the second receiving touchdown of the game from Freshman Julian Sayin on a fourth down conversion, and had 55 yards receiving for the game. Both Brandon Innis and Carnell Tate had 3 catches doe 45 yards.
Turning Point
The game was never in question, but it would be interesting to see if the Broncos caught the Buckeyes attention after playing a close game the week before against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes cruised scoring on 6 of their first 8 possessions and put this game away before it could become a scare.
Stars of the Game
Will Howard. Howard didnt put up the passing touchdown numbers in this game, but he played a great game all around, completing his first 10 passes, and almost hit 300 yards passing for the day. He rushed for his first touchdown as a Buckeye, and you can see how he compliments Chip Kelly’s offense with his skills.
Jeremiah Smith. Is it too early to make comparisons to Marvin Harrison Jr with Jeremiah Smith? Maybe still, but the freshman and number 1 recruit of the 2024 class has been as advertised in two games already, and is already set to break the freshman yards and touchdowns record by the middle of the season. He definitely is a key piece to this offense.
Ohio State Defense. There was a lot of hype about this defense on of the best in the country, and through two weeks, they are already the number 2 total defense in the country. They shutout their first opponent in over 5 years, and even playing their depth, they held an opponent to under 100 yards of total offense. They lost Denzel Burke to a questionable targeting penalty at the end of the first quarter, but even with him out, the Silver Bullets did not lose a step.
Playoff Picture
They Buckeyes’ performance showed that they are one of the best teams in the country, especially after a few upsets and close calls from teams in the top 25. The only thing i see that might happen is that Texas defeated Michigan on the road, which was a top 10 matchup, and that could get the Longhorns some votes above the Buckeyes due to their early season top 25 win. But at this point, it still is a matter of winning the game ahead of you, and the rest will fall into place.
Looking Ahead
Ohio State (2-0) will have a week off next week, and return on September 21 against Marshall (1-1). Kickoff time still TBD
Western Michigan (0-2) will head back home to host Bethune-Cookman (0-2 at 6:30pm on ESPN+.
Photo Credit: FOX Sports