Recap

It was mentioned in the preview post for this game, but bye weeks in week 3 should be banned. The Buckeyes gave up their first and second touchdown of the season against Marshall after shutting out Western Michigan and holding Akron to 6 points in week 1. Give credit to the Thundering Herd and Charles Huff’s game plan going into this game, who probably added a few wrinkles with his offense to keep the chains moving after having their own bye week, but the Buckeye defense let the Herd march down the field an uncomfortable amount of times in the first half and had a few missed tackles that could have impacted 3 and outs to get off the field. 

Special teams also did not have its best day. Ohio State had three kickoffs that went out of bounds, and gave Marshall a shorter field for 3 of their drives, which put pressure on the defense. Additionally, and even though it was called back due to an alignment penalty, Brandon Innis muffed a catch from a punt that was recovered by Marshall, but was overturned. 

In the first half, Marshall had 46 plays and over 21 minutes of time of possession to Ohio State’s 21 plays and just over 8 minutes. It was not the clean game Ohio State fans were expecting, especially after hearing Ryan Day say earlier this week that they used this bye week to work on fundamentals.

It was not all bleak though for the Buckeyes, and fans got to see the dividends and offensive expertise of Chip Kelly as the Buckeyes were pacing a point per play during the game, and exploded on several big plays in both halves to assert their talent and dominance.

Will Howard played his worst game of the season, taking his first sack, and threw his first interception of the season which was a ball to Jeremiah Smith which looked to be under-thrown. He did pass for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns, as well as rushed for 1, so it was not all bad, but not his sharpest game. 

The running back tandem showed why they might be the best in the country. Quinshon Judkins led the team with 173 yards on 14 carries and had 2 touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson added his own 2 touchdowns with 76 yards on 6 carries. Both backs had an impressive average of aver 12.4 yards per carry.

The receivers had a good day, and was led by senior Emeka Egbuka. He finished the game with 5 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Jeremiah Smith added his 4th touchdown of the season on a 53 yard catch, and finished the game with 3 catches for 70 yards. Carnell Tate was third on the team with 4 catches for 64 yards. 

The Buckeyes will have plenty to things to work on leading into their first week of conference play.

Turning Point

The halftime score was closer than it probably should have been (I still think that the Marshall touchdown at the end of the second quarter was actually out of bounds), but the Buckeyes got the ball to start the second half, and TreVeyon Henderson dashed for 53 yards and a touchdown to extend the Buckeye lead 35-14, and Marshall did not have a response the rest of the game. 

Stars of the Game

Emeka Egbuka. The senior receiver flashed with his speed on Ohio State’s second play of the game, and took it too to the house on a 68 yard reception. 

TreVeyon Henderson. The second headed monster of “Treshon Judkerson” had a really good day with two touchdowns on 6 carries, and average 12.7 yards a carry.

Quinshon Judkins. Arguably emerging as the real potential Heisman candidate for the Buckeyes, Judkins had a break out game in the Scarlet and Gray, and had 14 carries for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns, highlighted by his 86 yard rushing touchdown which is the 3rd longest in school history. 

Playoff Picture

This game wasn’t one that overall hurt the Buckeyes, and the only thing that might show is in the polls, but beating a team 49-14 and not looking your best on defense, or special teams, that has to be considered. Fortunately we are moving into conference games for the Buckeyes and the strength of schedule discussions can be put to rest. Will have to see what happened around the country in the marquee games, including the Tennessee vs Oklahoma game, which if the volunteers look good and win, they might surpass the Buckeyes in the polls. 

Looking Ahead

Ohio State (3-0) will go on the road for the first time and play Michigan State (3-0) at 7pm on Peacock.

Marshall (1-2) will host Western Michigan (1-2) at 3:30pm on ESPN+

Photo Credit: 10tv.com