It's a marathon, not a sprint.
That can be said about an entire season and a single game. Luckily for Kyle McCord, Ohio State's win over Maryland was, in fact, a marathon for the quarterback and Ohio State's offense as a whole.
After completing only 2-of-7 passes for 14 yards in the first quarter, including just one of his first five passes of the game, McCord improved as the game went on. Just like when he stepped up when Ohio State needed him to late in the game at Notre Dame two weeks prior, he did so again Saturday afternoon in Ohio Stadium. With the Buckeyes holding a 20-17 lead entering the fourth quarter, McCord completed 8-of-9 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns in the final quarter of the game.
“I couldn’t quite understand what was going on there in the first couple drives,” Ryan Day said after the game. “Didn’t quite get in sync there on offense, then had the botched snap there on the punt. ... But that is the game and you’ve got to respond. I thought we did respond well in the second half, got into a rhythm.”
The Buckeyes have been able to work through slow starts and still come away with a win in every game so far this season, but the same might not be said the rest of the season, especially against tougher competition such as Penn State and Michigan. McCord knows he must not only continue to develop with every start but also start games stronger.
“Early on I missed some opportunities or just saw it a second late,” McCord said after the Maryland win. “That’s nobody else but myself. Some areas I’ll have to continue to grow on and continue to find ways to start fast. Because if we can replicate what we did in the second half but just do that in the first half, I think that’s a completely different game.
"We just executed better (in the second half),” McCord added. “I feel like there were definitely opportunities for us in the first half to go score. It wasn’t anything that we didn’t expect (from Maryland's defense), for the most part. It wasn’t anything that the coaches could have done better. I feel like as an offense, as the quarterback of the offense, I feel like we need to take initiative, and regardless of what they call, make it work.”
With TreVeyon Henderson forced to miss the game due to an injury, Ohio State had just 62 yards on 33 carries and leaned on McCord's arm to win the game.
Even with his early-game struggles, McCord still had one of the best games of his career to date, completing 19 passes (to eight different players) on 29 attempts for 320 yards and two touchdowns. We charted all of those passes to dive into how McCord performed in his fifth start of 2023. (Note: The passing chart is categorized by how many yards the quarterback threw the ball in the air past the line of scrimmage on each attempt and whether the ball reached its target inside or outside the hashes, though the stats listed include yards gained after the catch on each completion.)
McCord's 81.9 QBR was the second-best in the Big Ten in Week 6 behind only Michigan's J.J. McCarthy. That said, it was his second-lowest of the season, ahead of only his 69.8 QBR performance in the season opener at Indiana. His 181.0 passer rating was his third-best mark of the season, though.
Overall, McCord had his best game by far throwing the ball 20 yards or more downfield against Maryland. Through the first four games of the season, McCord completed just 6-of-20 passes 20-plus yards in the air for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Against Maryland, he completed 5-of-6 throws in that area of the field for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
As a result, McCord actually had a higher completion percentage of throws of 20-plus yards than he did to any other area of the field against Maryland. He was least efficient on intermediate throws, completing only two of his six passing attempts between 10-19 yards downfield, while he also had five incompletions within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.
McCord was more aggressive throwing the ball down the field vs. Maryland than he was in previous games, though. Some fans and analysts have made the argument that McCord has looked to check down too often, as 20 of his first 113 passes through the first four games of the season were thrown behind the line of scrimmage. Against the Terrapins, he threw just four of his 29 total attempts in that area. He had more completions of 20-plus yards (five) than he did throws behind the line of scrimmage (four) Saturday afternoon, which is a big step in the right direction when it comes to Ohio State's passing attack.
Best Throw: 37-yard completion to Marvin Harrison Jr.
In what might have been his best throw so far as Ohio State’s quarterback, McCord delivered a perfect ball up the right sideline and the best receiver in college football proved just that, making an excellent 37-yard catch for the Buckeyes to convert a rare 2nd-and-33.
This Kyle McCord-Marvin Harrison Jr. connection was . pic.twitter.com/nW341fXGOb
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 7, 2023
“I look over and they're playing press man-to-man on Marvin Harrison again, and so I said ‘OK, we’re just gonna throw it as far as we can to Marvin Harrison in one-on-one.’ And unbelievable throw, great catch,” Day said Monday when asked about that throw. “Any time we have a one-on-one situation in that moment, we're probably going to take a chance, and it worked out. I thought it was executed well.”
Great Throw: 58-yard completion to Marvin Harrison Jr.
Some would say that this was underthrown and could have been a 90-yard touchdown if McCord threw it farther, but it's worth noting he threw the ball from his own 4-yard line and Harrison caught it just before Maryland's 40-yard line, meaning that McCord literally threw the ball 56 yards through the air. You can't ask for much more than that. Harrison was able to get past his defender and McCord got the ball to him for the longest throw and catch of the day for the Buckeyes.
Marvelous Marv, Route Man Marv, Super Marv, etc. pic.twitter.com/A6acpMHBsW
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 7, 2023
Good throw: 17-yard touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr.
Harrison was the one who got open, but McCord stepped up in the pocket with it collapsing a little and threw a dart between four Maryland defenders for his second touchdown pass of the game.
Marvin Harrison Jr. with the @KingJames silencer celebration pic.twitter.com/nY17rtBaSy
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 7, 2023
Worst throw: Completion to Chip Trayanum for -18 yards
I get not wanting to take a sack, but way too many bad things can happen when you shove the ball up to your running back that far behind the line of scrimmage. Just hold onto the ball, take the loss of yards and carry on.
Bad throw: Near-interception on pass inside Harrison
A quarterback knows to never miss to the field side of a receiver, especially close to the sideline. Luckily for McCord, this pass wasn't intercepted, but he needs to throw it to a spot where either Harrison will catch it or the ball will fall for an incomplete pass. Had Harrison not helped knock the ball down, it could have potentially been a pick-six.
Bad Throw: Would-be touchdown underthrown
McCord had to be afraid to overthrow Fleming here and not get a completion at all because if he leads the receiver, it's an easy, wide-open touchdown. It still wound up being a 37-yard completion for McCord, but it would have been an incomplete pass if not for a fantastic adjustment and catch by Fleming.
Can't forget about this catch from Julian Fleming. pic.twitter.com/gpMskjyMUc
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 7, 2023
With more experience, McCord will likely gain more confidence with his deep ball and continue to improve his anticipation, throwing the ball on time and throwing to space to get a receiver open.
Five games into his first year leading Ohio State's offense, McCord hasn’t been perfect but has shown improvement, which must continue for the Buckeyes to reach their goals at season’s end.
McCord’s overall passing chart for the season through five games:
