After Ohio State's dominant 52-6 win against Akron in the season opener, Zips head coach Joe Moorhead spoke to the media about how he thought things went down between his team and the Buckeyes.
There might've been some consternation from Ohio State fans about the team's slow start against Akron, but the end result was still a blowout, and Moorhead seemed pretty confident that the Buckeyes were a championship-caliber team.
"...Having coached against the 2019 LSU team [...] I know what a team that can play for a national championship looks like. And this looks like a team that can play for the national championship. That's what I learned about Ohio State."
Moorhead was also asked about Jeremiah Smith, the much-hyped true freshman at wide receiver who had a breakout game with 6 catches for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"We follow each other on Twitter, which is cool. [...] But he's as advertised [...] It's an embarrassment of riches. You know, everywhere you look, there's a guy that can catch it and break a tackle and score [...] So, to see that kid play in person after all the kind of pomp and circumstance leading up to it, he lived up to the ability."
Coaching a team that was a nearly 50 point underdog to a victory in Ohio Stadium was always going to be a tough row to hoe, and even though the Zips held onto the football for eight minutes longer than the Buckeyes, they finished with over 200 fewer yards.
One of the biggest issues that Akron ran into as the game progressed was with depth; it became clear that Ohio State was able to keep up the intensity (especially on defense) throughout the game in a way that the Zips could not. The Buckeyes racked up 10 tackles for loss and sacked Akron quarterbacks 5 times on the afternoon, as the Ohio State defensive line was consistently in the Akron backfield.
Moorhead was asked about the discrepancy between the two teams.
"...It does prepare you for the games in the season where the competitive balance is a little bit more equal. [...] You're not going to replicate the size and speed and the physicality of [Ohio State] in (the rest of) your schedule. But on the other side of that pancake, you hope to get out of it healthy."
It's a tough situation for Moorhead, who is in his third year as Akron's head coach. While there wasn't a lot of positive for the Zips to take away from the game on Saturday, hopefully the Zips can make some noise in the MAC as the regular season progresses.
