Five Things: Kyle McCord, Marvin Harrison Jr. Torch Michigan State in Blowout Win

Presented by The 1870 Society

No. 1 Ohio State improved to 10-0 on the season after a huge first half propelled the Buckeyes to a 38-3 win over an overmatched Michigan State squad.

Marvin Harrison Jr. continued making his Heisman case, the defense smothered the Spartans despite playing without Tommy Eichenberg, Lathan Ransom and Josh Proctor, and Kyle McCord had his most productive outing in scarlet and gray.

The win keeps Ohio State on a collision course for a showdown with undefeated Michigan in two weeks after the Wolverines easily handled Penn State in Happy Valley.

The Buckeyes have one more tuneup before that one, against Minnesota, but before we move on to what's next, here are Five Things from Ohio State's thrashing of Sparty.

ACE OF BASE

Kyle McCord turned in his finest outing as a collegian against the Spartans as he completed 24-of-31 passes (77%) for 335 yards and three touchdowns against zero interceptions. And he did all that in just three quarters as Ryan Day emptied the bench late.

Michigan State has a very ordinary defense no doubt, entering the game with the nation's 57th-best pass defense but there were still a few takeaways from McCord's night.

One, he's clearly working on his footwork because when he gets himself in trouble throwing the football, it's often when he's launching from his back foot or otherwise not having a firm base which fuels his inaccuracy. Last night, the television broadcast did a great job showing McCord's spacing and firm footing on some of his best throws.

With that strong base McCord also had his best completion percentage this season but to me, it wasn't just the completions it was the actual ball placement. He's had other games with solid completion rates but too many of the completions required non-standard-to-circus catches from his receivers, often killing any chance at yards after catch.

Last night he made a handful of truly great throws, none prettier than his 26-yard connection with Marvin Harrison Jr. to make it 14-0 Buckeyes.

Great throw. Great catch. Touchdown Marvin Harrison Jr. pic.twitter.com/Pfq5EO6SJE
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 12, 2023

Finally, pocket presence has been an issue all year for McCord. He's not fleet of foot but the lack of simply feeling pressure has caused problems. Last night, again against a meh defense to be fair, McCord didn't take a sack. The best example of his pocket presence work last night was feeling the pocket collapse and sliding forward and left before flipping a pitch to tight end Cade Stover for a 12-yard gain just two plays before the noted dime to Harrison. He also calmly retrieved a bad snap, bought some time and threw the ball away to avoid a negative play.

Can he have this type of performance against the likes of an elite defense like Michigan? That remains to be seen but there were plenty of positives to take from his effort last night.

HARTFORD INSURANCE

With starting safeties Josh Proctor and Lathan Ransom out of the lineup, true freshman Malik Hartford made his second career start and flashed once again.

Long term, Hartford's ceiling is potentially elite but for this season, it looks like he could be needed more than hoped/expected with Ransom out "long term" though Proctor should be back on the field next week. As such, it's important he's dependable now and for being so green, he's looking the part.

He did get flagged for a pass interference call but finished with four stops, just one off tying for the team lead while providing solid coverage on a few incompletions.

On Michigan State's fifth series he stood out blowing up a short pass on 2nd-and-9 for no gain then on 3rd-and-9, holding an Evan Morris catch for a 3-yard gain to force a 3-and-out.

Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles clearly has a ton of confidence in the true freshman, starting him over a handful of other guys and at this point in the season, Day loves to say the freshmen that play really aren't freshmen anymore.

Hartford's comfortability and impact down the stretch as he potentially plays an increased role will be something to watch as the Buckeyes look to maintain their defensive dominance.

TROUBLE MAN

Marvin Harrison Jr., ladies and gentlemen.

What can you say about this dude at this point other than he's the best and most complete wide receiver in the history of Ohio State football?

Last night Harrison cooked Michigan State with six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns and a 19-yard touchdown run - in the first half. After seeing some time in the third quarter before Day emptied the bench, Harrison finished with seven catches for 149 yards along with those two receiving touchdowns and the one on the ground.

He's so elite it almost looks like he's not that great and is just playing against really bad defenders. It's truly wild. It all just looks too easy. His catch captured above looked about as routine as it gets - for him - yet it came with a high degree of difficulty. He slant for a touchdown looked he and McCord playing pitch and catch in warmups. One jab step to the right, cut across the defender's face and he's got a 3-yard cushion.

Harrison's big night against the Spartans moved his season total to 1,063 receiving yards, making him the first Buckeye ever to record two 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He also tied David Boston's school record for 100-yard games, notching his 14th with lots of football left to be played this season.

He's also averaging 18.0 yards per catch, has 12 receiving touchdowns and 13 total.

Now with the third-best odds to win the Heisman, at-worst he should earn an invite to New York City and at best, become just the fifth receiver to win college football's most prestigious individual award.

FAST BALL

Coming into yesterday's matchup, Ohio State had scored more than 10 points in the first half during just six of nine games and even trailed in one of those as Rutgers took a 9-7 lead into halftime last weekend.

The offense's first half malaise has taken on different shapes this season ranging from the offensive line struggling, McCord failing to find a rhythm, the run game feeling TreVeyon Henderson's absence and self-inflicted errors getting the Buckeyes off schedule.

There was virtually none of that last night as Day's offense scored touchdowns on five of six first half possessions to take a 35-3 lead at the break. The lone possession resulting in a punt started at the OSU 2-yard line.

Ohio State chewed up 200 yards in the first quarter alone and 360 for the half on 8.3 yards per play. The run game averaged 5.7 yards per carry and McCord connected on 21-of-25 for 263 yards and three scores.

The machine racked up 20 first downs and went 5-of-6 on third down conversions in a dominant showing. None of Ohio State's 42 first half snaps went for negative yardage and the Buckeyes didn't commit a penalty.

A much stiffer test is coming in two weeks but it was good to see the offense start fast and operate at a high level for 30 straight minutes.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

Ohio State played its cleanest game of the season from a penalties and turnovers standpoint. The Buckeyes were flagged three times and didn't turn it over, stopping a four-game streak of giving the ball to the opponent at least once.

The defense committed just one infraction, the noted pass interference call on Hartford while the offense was flagged twice though both came in fourth quarter garbage time via an illegal formation and a delay of game.

Ohio State's three penalties set a new season-low. The previous best was five flags which occurred four times. The zero turnovers matched wins over Maryland, Notre Dame and Youngstown State.

The Buckeyes now rank No. 71 in penalties per game (6.0) and No. 20 in the nation with 20 total turnovers.

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