Ohio State Wins Comfortably in Season Opener Against Akron, 52-6

By Dan Hope on August 31, 2024 at 7:06 pm
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It took a little longer than expected for Ohio State to pull away, but the Buckeyes still won comfortably in their 2024 season opener.

Led by a two-touchdown debut from freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and a dominant performance by the defense that included two defensive touchdowns, Ohio State earned a 52-6 win over the visiting Zips to start the season 1-0 at Ohio Stadium.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#2 Ohio State 7 10 21 14 52
AKRON 3 0 3 0 6
Aug. 31, 2024 • Ohio STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio

The Buckeyes started slow on their first drive of the season, punting the ball away after a 3-and-out. Akron proceeded to drive the ball down to Ohio State’s 23-yard line before a botched snap and a JT Tuimoloau sack pushed the Zips back to the 41. The Zips got the ball back into range for Garrison Smith – a former Ohio State walk-on – to make a 48-yard field goal for the game’s first three points.

Akron’s lead proved to be short-lived as the Buckeyes drove 75 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown on their second possession. Smith, making his Ohio State debut as a true freshman, scored the first points of the year for the scarlet and gray as he caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Will Howard.

The Buckeyes forced Akron to punt on its next possession, which Ohio State followed up by driving into Akron territory. But the Buckeyes turned the ball over on downs after opting to go for it on 4th-and-5 from the 25-yard line, as a pass from Howard intended for Emeka Egbuka was broken up by Akron safety Aman Greenwood.

Ohio State got the ball right back when Denzel Burke made a spectacular play to steal the ball out of the hands of Akron receiver Adrian Norton for an interception. A trio of incomplete passes by Howard forced the Buckeyes to settle for a 40-yard Jayden Fielding field goal.

Smith scored his second touchdown in as many quarters as a Buckeye to extend Ohio State’s lead to 17-3 on its next possession. He caught a 9-yard pass on a slant in the middle of the field from Howard after Howard got the Buckeyes into goal-to-go offense with a 19-yard run.

The Buckeyes got the ball back for one more first-half possession after forcing an Akron turnover on downs, but went 3-and-out on their sixth and final drive before halftime to take a 17-3 lead into the break.

It didn’t take long for the Buckeyes to score on their first drive of the second half. Judkins ran for 13 yards on the drive’s opening play, Howard and Smith connected on a deep ball for a 45-yard gain on the second play and Judkins finished off the drive on the third play with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Ohio State extended the lead to 31-3 just 18 seconds later when Lathan Ransom scooped up a fumble forced by Caden Curry and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Smith got the Zips on the board for the second time on their subsequent possession by making a 49-yard field goal.

James Peoples ran for a 4-yard touchdown on the first carry of his Ohio State career on the final play of the third quarter to make it a 38-6 game.

The Buckeyes scored their third straight touchdown on their next possession – the last drive of the day for the first-team offense – as Carnell Tate took a pass from Howard 34 yards to the house.

Gabe Powers added an exclamation point to the victory by intercepting a pass deflected by Eddrick Houston and returning it 29 yards for a touchdown for the Buckeyes’ seventh touchdown of the day.

Howard finished his first start as a Buckeye with 17 completions on 28 passing attempts for 228 yards and three touchdowns, plus 18 rushing yards. Smith was Ohio State’s leading receiver with six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson led the Buckeyes with 65 rushing yards on eight carries.

Defensively, Ransom led the Buckeyes with nine total tackles and two tackles for loss. Tuimoloau led the Buckeyes with 1.5 sacks.

Team Stats

OHIO STATE     AKRON
404 TOTAL YARDS 177
170 RUSHING YARDS 47
33 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 35
5.2 AVERAGE PER RUSH 1.3
3 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0
234 PASSING YARDS 130
18-31 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 18-29
13.0 AVERAGE PER COMPLETION 7.2
3 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 0
24 1st DOWNS 11
64 TOTAL PLAYS 64
6.3 YARDS PER PLAY 2.8
9-14 3RD DOWNS 4-16
7-45 PENALTIES 5-35
25:56 POSSESSION 34:04
0 TURNOVERS 3

Game Notes

  • Donovan Jackson and Cody Simon were both ruled out of the game due to injuries, though both of them were healthy enough to participate in pregame warmups. Austin Siereveld made his first career start at left guard in place of Jackson. C.J. Hicks made his first career start at Will linebacker with Sonny Styles sliding over to Mike; Arvell Reese also saw action at linebacker with the first-team defense.
  • Tegra Tshabola made his first career start at right guard, but Carson Hinzman also saw playing time at the position with the first-team offense.
  • Jeremiah Smith became the first Ohio State true freshman to start a season opener since Denzel Burke in 2021. He was the first true freshman to catch two touchdowns for the Buckeyes in a season opener since Michael Wiley in 1996.
  • Joe McGuire started the game at punter over Nick McLarty, who had been named the starting punter nine days prior to the game.
  • Brandon Inniss got the nod as Ohio State’s first punt returner while Jayden Ballard started the game at kickoff returner.
  • Ohio State held a pregame moment of silence in remembrance of late Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, who were killed when they were hit by a car while cycling on Thursday.
  • Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin dotted the ‘i’ in Script Ohio at halftime, becoming just the 17th honorary i-dotter ever.
  • 102,011 fans attended the season opener.

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