The beatdown we have all been waiting for.
The Buckeyes began to live up to the potential that so many of us thought they all had. While this is what we should expect when going up against Akron, many of us can now breathe a sigh of relief.
In today's Three Key Stats, we look at a breakout performance from the pass rush, how the offense flexed its muscles and third-down dominance from Ohio State on both sides of the ball.
9 Sacks
This is what has been missing. Ohio State showed the importance of the trenches on Saturday, as the pressure up front seemed to fix many of the Buckeyes’ defensive woes. Six different Buckeyes had sacks for a total of nine, tied for the fourth-most in a single game in Ohio State history.
With the penetration up front, the secondary was able to play with more flexibility and the defense was able to be much more aggressive. The Buckeyes will have to build on that going into conference play, though, because Akron had the weakest offensive line they will play all year.
10.2 Yards Per Play
The Buckeyes averaged more than a first down on each play from scrimmage against Akron. We all know that the Buckeyes have immense firepower on offense, but we finally saw those weapons in full force tonight.
Kyle McCord looked solid in his first start under center, but no individual heroics were needed against Akron as the offense dominated in all aspects. There was no group that struggled, and many of the younger Buckeyes saw the field in the blowout.
Ten different receivers caught the ball on Saturday and Ohio State played four running backs as it gained 622 yards of total offense – 385 through the air and 237 on the ground.
8/11 & 5/17
Third down dominance, on both sides of the ball, was a major factor in Ohio State's win.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Buckeyes converted eight third downs on 11 tries. A subtle problem for Ohio State this season has been its third down offense, often due to falling behind the chains. The offense needed only an average of 4.8 yards on third downs against Akron, and it converted on most of them.
Defensively, Ohio State held Akron to just five third-down conversions on 17 attempts. That was a big step forward for the Buckeye defense, which struggled mightily getting off the field in the first three games.
