Five Things: Buckeyes Handle Penguins Behind Big Days From Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr.

Presented by The 1870 Society

Ohio State improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 35-7 win over FCS foe Youngstown State yesterday in Ohio Stadium though it was again a performance leaving coaches, players and fans wanting more.

A lot did go well, headlined by Marvin Harrison Jr. getting loose for seven catches, 160 yards and two touchdowns, one serving as the longest of his Buckeye career via a 71-yard connection with quarterback Kyle McCord.

On defense, Ohio State held the Penguins to just one scoring drive and Denzel Burke recorded the first pick by a Buckeye cornerback since 2021, although there were issues including an inability to get off the field quickly and get the ball back to the offense as as YSU converted 7-of-15 third downs.

After being leapfrogged in the rankings last week by Florida State following an uneven performance against Indiana, the same is likely to happen this week with Texas a candidate to jump the Buckeyes after the Longhorns dumped Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

I know, rankings don't mean anything in the grand scheme at this point but the fact is Ohio State has yet to put together 60 minutes of complete football, against low-level competition and Notre Dame lurks just two weeks away.

But hey, there were indeed plenty of bright spots among the items still needing addressed and it's better to work on those while being undefeated than learning from a loss.

With that, let's get to Five Things from the 28-point win over the Penguins.

QB1 BATTLE PRESUMED DONE

Building off his second half versus Indiana, Kyle McCord took another step to solidify his standing as the unquestioned starting quarterback as he completed 14-of-20 throws for 258 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

McCord averaged 12.9 yards per attempt buoyed by hitting Harrison for touchdowns of 71 and 39 yards and Emeka Egbuka for a 28-yard score. After check down city against the Hoosiers, McCord was more effective downfield yesterday adding two more connections for 24 and 21 yards alongside those three long touchdown throws.

While the opponent must be considered, it was important to see his completion rate jump from 61% last week to 70% yesterday. McCord only had one instance of tossing back-to-back incompletions yesterday and that wasn't real as one of those came as a result of a Harrison drop.

Meanwhile, Devin Brown saw his first extended action and turned in a mixed bag. He completed 7-of-13 throws for 101 yards but he was sacked twice and also fumbled though he was able to quickly recover the ball.

A highlight for Brown came on a 4th-and-7 throw as he showed excellent pocket presence and mobility to buy time before hitting tight end Gee Scott Jr. for a 9-yard completion to keep a drive alive.

But his issues included a few airmailed throws that were not close to his target, a toss too high for Harrison of all receivers, a deep ball duck that yielded a pass interference call because it was so badly under thrown and he inexplicably took a sack on a 4th-and-goal play when he had time to at least throw the ball in the end zone.

Brown's got some juice and the running game looked pretty good with him on the field with the defense needing to respect his athleticism.

What I learned from the admittedly small sample size is McCord is without a doubt QB1, though he has his own opportunities to address, while Brown at least wouldn't totally freak me out if he had to come in to a game where the outcome was in doubt.

DEAD END

I admit I had high hopes for the defensive ends coming into the season but so much of that was indeed 'hope' as the 2022 version of outside rushers wasn't exactly dominant.

Through two games, though the interior defensive linemen have shined, the ends haven't given Ohio State much. Yesterday, Larry Johnson's defensive ends yielded zero sacks on 26 dropbacks and zero tackles for loss across 59 overall YSU snaps.

Jack Sawyer (3) and JT Tuimoloau (2) did combine for five tackles but I think it's more than fair to want and expect more from that duo in particular, considering their experience and blue chip status. Both were top-five overall recruits but thus far in 2023 the results have been lackluster to say the least.

Johnson's full suite of defensive ends did log 1.5 tackles for loss in the opener versus Indiana (JT 0.5, Caden Curry 1.0) but the defensive ends having zero sacks through two games is not great no matter how much disruption interior guys like Mike Hall Jr., Ty Hamilton, Tyleik Williams etc. might cause.

It's going to be tough to be beat Notre Dame in two weeks if the ends no-show against Sam Hartman the way they mostly have through the first two contests.

HENDERSON SHOWS LIFE

A week after many fans dogged starting tailback TreVeyon Henderson and proclaimed Chip Trayanum RB1, Henderson looked explosive and determined in a 7-touch, 74-yard outing complete with two touchdowns.

His day included five carries for 56 yards, good for 11.2 a pop, and he had three other carries tally 27 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown sprint, that were wiped out by either holding or hands to the face penalties.

His 30-yard touchdown run around right end showcased his speed as he darted out the backfield toward the right sideline and cut up field untouched in a blur.

As a receiver, he took a pair of catches 18 yards including a 13-yarder.

I could couch every Thing by calling out the level of opponent and I'm not here to suggest it was some Herculean performance but the reality is Henderson is indeed an explosive playmaker.

It's up to Ryan Day and Brian Hartline to come up with more action that gets him the ball on the edges and in space. We know Henderson isn't the toughest runner between the tackles, that's more of a job for Trayanum or Miyan Williams, but Henderson is a high-end weapon when he can be deployed in a way that takes full advantage of his skill set.

WORK IN PROGRESS

For all the talk about the quarterbacks or even who is RB1, the biggest issue on this team right now is the offensive line. This isn't a shocker as Justin Frye was tasked with breaking in three new starters at oh by the way the most challenging three positions on the line in center and both tackles.

Amid some angst about the running backs, the fact is the offensive line isn't consistently winning the line of scrimmage and opening up holes. In their defense, I will say Indiana brought a high volume of blitzes meaning it was on more than just the five offensive linemen responsible for opening holes but the reality is none of those five looked particularly solid against the Hoosiers, all racking up poor PFF grades, as the Buckeyes managed just 4.6 yards per carry.

Yesterday, facing an FCS foe and with some experience under their belt, the offensive line played a part in the Buckeyes again averaging just 4.6 yards per carry on 27 attempts. Also, after allowing zero sacks against the Hoosiers, the offensive line and company surrendered two to the Penguins.

Worse yet, the offensive line contributed three penalties - all of consequence. A Carson Hinzman hold erased a 9-yard Henderson carry for a first down. A Josh Simmons hold on 3rd-and-1 deleted another Henderson carry to move the chains. Finally, another Simmons penalty, this time illegal hands to the face, wiped out a 17-yard Henderson touchdown run.

We knew there'd be growing pains but the offensive line needs to take a big step forward in a hurry if Ohio State wants to leave South Bend with a victory in a few weeks.

ADAPT AND OVERCOME

I like Ryan Day a lot as a person and I think he's an elite offensive coach though we all know if you want to survive in Columbus, you best beat Michigan consistently.

That said, anybody else growing weary of press conferences in which he laments the new clock rules, lack of plays/possessions and opponents burning clock? In his defense, he's asked about it but it's time to deflect and move on.

I appreciate that Day has a bunch of talented guys and he wants them all to get the touches he thinks they deserve but maybe he needs to socialize that a little bit less.

The new rules are what they are. I don't like them. I doubt you like them and he clearly doesn't like them. But none of that matters. What matters is adjusting to the new rules and maximizing the reps as best you can to keep developing the players before the 'real' games show up on the schedule.

And not for nothing but while Ohio State has scored 23 points versus Indiana and 35 points versus Youngstown State, other programs are still putting up points and I'm assuming their opponents are also doing things like using the rules to their advantage.

Again, I'm not anti-Day. I just don't really want to hear about the clock rules and number of snaps when just yesterday Georgia scored 42 points versus Ball State, Florida State put up 66 on Southern Miss, USC logged 56 against Stanford, Penn State tallied 63 versus Delaware, Notre Dame generated 45 on the road at N.C. State and Miami cranked out 48 versus Texas A&M.

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