Ohio State Cruises to 45-12 Victory over Arkansas State for Second Win of 2022 Season

By Dan Hope on September 10, 2022 at 3:22 pm
TreVeyon Henderson
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Ohio State’s second win of the 2022 season came easier than its first.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#3 Ohio State 14 10 21 0 45
ARKANSAS STATE 3 6 3 0 12
SEPT. 10, 2022 • Ohio STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio

While the Buckeyes didn’t quite put Arkansas State away by halftime as many anticipated they would going into Saturday’s game, the home team was in firm control of the game throughout and ultimately cruised to a 45-12 victory at Ohio Stadium.

Marvin Harrison Jr. caught three touchdown passes while TreVeyon Henderson ran for two touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes to victory.

The game got off to a smooth start on both sides of the ball for the Buckeyes, who scored the first touchdown of the day less than five minutes into the game on a 42-yard connection from C.J. Stroud to Harrison after Ohio State’s defense forced a 3-and-out on its opening series.

Arkansas State got into the red zone on its second possession after a trio of penalties against the Buckeyes, including a leaping over the punt shield penalty against Teradja Mitchell that nullified what would have been a 78-yard punt return touchdown by Emeka Egbuka, as well as a pair of defensive pass interference calls against Denzel Burke. But the Buckeyes were able to hold the Red Wolves to a 29-yard field goal.

It didn’t take long for Ohio State to extend its lead to two scores, as a 45-yard pass from Stroud to Harrison set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Henderson, which capped off a four-play, 75-yard drive that took only one minute and 33 seconds.

Cade Stover put his receiving ability on display on the Buckeyes’ third possession of the game when he caught a deep ball from Stroud for a 35-yard gain. The Buckeyes were forced to settle for a field goal, which Noah Ruggles made from 24 yards out for his first make of the year after a near-touchdown catch by Harrison was ruled to be incomplete when the ball came out of his hands at the goal line.

OHIO STATE METRIC ARK ST
538 TOTAL YARDS 276
168 RUSHING YARDS 53
26 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 34
6.5 AVERAGE per RUSH 1.6
2 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0
370 PASSING YARDS 223
19-28 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 25-42
19.5 AVERAGE per COMPLETION 8.9
4 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 0
20 1st DOWNS 15
54 TOTAL PLAYS 76
10.0 YARDS PER PLAY 3.6
2-2 RED ZONE 3-4
5-11 third down conv 5-20
9-85 PENALTIES 6-63
22:16 POSSESSION 37:44

Arkansas State’s offense hit its first big play of the day when Champ Flemings beat Denzel Burke deep for a 58-yard catch, putting the Red Wolves in the red zone for the second time in the game. The Buckeyes were able to hold Arkansas State to a field goal, which made the score 17-6 with 13:33 to play in the second quarter.

Ohio State was forced to punt for the first time after going 3-and-out on its fourth possession of the game, and Arkansas State was able to drive deep into Ohio State territory again on its subsequent offensive series. The Red Wolves got into the red zone for the third time in five possessions when Flemings gained 15 yards on a jet sweep when Arkansas State went for it on 4th-and-1 from the 30-yard line. But the Buckeyes held Arkansas State to yet another field goal, keeping the home team up eight points with 5:22 to play in the second quarter.

Less than a minute later, Ohio State took a 15-point lead when Stroud and Harrison connected for their second 42-yard touchdown of the day, bringing Harrison to 137 yards and two touchdowns on just four catches before halftime.

Arkansas State drove back into Ohio State territory for a third straight possession on its next series and went for it on 4th-and-1 again, but was unsuccessful the second time around as Mike Hall blew up the play for a sack.

The Buckeyes took a 24-9 lead into halftime after punting on their final possession of the first half, but extended that lead to 31-9 just one minute and 20 seconds into the second half when Henderson ran for a 23-yard touchdown following a 44-yard connection between Stroud and Egbuka.

A 49-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Egbuka, which pushed Egbuka over 100 receiving yards for the first time in his Ohio State career, made the score 38-9 just four minutes and 30 seconds into the third quarter.

Arkansas State kicker Dominic Zvada made his fourth field goal of the day, with his fourth being his longest of the day from 45 yards out, to get Arkansas State into double digits with 2:49 left to play in the third quarter.

Ohio State extended its lead to 45-12 with four seconds left to play in the third quarter when Stroud threaded a 30-yard pass between two defenders to Harrison, on which he became just the second receiver in Ohio State history with two career three-touchdown games (joining Joey Galloway).

Stroud, who was replaced by Kyle McCord in the middle of the fourth quarter, finished the day with 351 yards and four touchdowns on 16-of-24 passing. Harrison finished the day with seven receptions for 184 yards and three touchdowns, while Henderson led all Buckeye runners with 87 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries.

With two wins over Notre Dame and Arkansas State under the Buckeyes’ belt, they’ll look to improve to 3-0 when they conclude the non-conference portion of their regular season against Toledo next Saturday at Ohio Stadium (7 p.m., Fox).

Game Notes

  • Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming did not play after being listed as game-time decisions, while Kamryn Babb and Jordan Hancock were also unavailable.
  • Former Ohio State running back Brian Snead, who was dismissed from the university in 2018, did not make the trip with Arkansas State for Saturday’s game despite transferring to Arkansas State this offseason.
  • C.J. Stroud, Kourt Williams, Cade Stover and Kamryn Babb were the game captains for Saturday’s coin toss.
  • Mitch Rossi made his first start of the season as the Buckeyes began the game with two tight ends on the field. He was the Buckeyes’ only new starter against Arkansas State from the Notre Dame game, as Josh Proctor returned to the starting lineup at safety despite being benched for Lathan Ransom against Notre Dame.
  • NCAA epee champion Gabriel Feinberg of Ohio State’s fencing team was honored during a media timeout in the first quarter. 
  • Ohio State’s Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2022, which includes former Buckeye football players Shawn Springs, Tom Tupa, Billy Ray Anders and Charles Bolen, men’s basketball player Aaron Craft and wrestler Logan Stieber, was honored during halftime.
  • Harrison and Egbuka both had the first 100-yard receiving games of their Ohio State careers.
  • Hall did not return to the game after needing medical attention on the field in the third quarter, but remained on the sideline and appeared to avoid significant injury.
  • 100,067 people attended Saturday’s game at Ohio Stadium.
  • True freshmen Caden Curry, Omari Abor, Kenyatta Jackson, Hero Kanu, Jyaire Brown and Kye Stokes made their debuts on Ohio State’s defense while running back Dallan Hayden and right guard Tegra Tshabola saw their first playing time on Ohio State’s offense. Sonny Styles and C.J. Hicks were among the freshmen who saw playing time on special teams.

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