Ohio State Completes Non-Conference Slate with 49-14 Win Over Marshall

By Dan Hope on September 21, 2024 at 3:39 pm
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Ohio State has completed its non-conference slate with three comfortable wins to start the season.

It wasn’t the cleanest game in any phase for the Buckeyes, but they still beat their third straight Group of 5 opponent decisively, defeating Marshall 49-14 in a Saturday afternoon matinee at Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State’s running back tandem of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson led the way to victory as they combined to run for 249 yards and four touchdowns.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#3 Ohio State 7 21 14 7 49
MARSHALL 7 7 0 0 14
SEPT. 21, 2024 • Ohio STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio

After allowing no touchdowns in its first two games of the season, Ohio State’s defense allowed Marshall to drive 75 yards in seven plays on the opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Stone Earle completed five of six passing attempts for 43 yards before Ethan Payne capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run for the visitors.

Ohio State responded quickly as Emeka Egbuka took a screen pass 68 yards to the end zone for his first touchdown of the season on the Buckeyes’ second play from scrimmage.

Will Howard threw his first interception of the season – the first turnover of any kind for the Buckeyes this season – on Ohio State’s second possession as Marshall cornerback Josh Moten picked off an underthrown deep ball intended for Jeremiah Smith against one-on-one coverage.

Ohio State got the ball back at Marshall’s 45-yard line for its third possession of the game after Earle slipped and fell for a 3-yard loss with Tywone Malone Jr. coming after him on a 4th-and-1 attempt to run for a first down. A 29-yard run by Judkins got Ohio State inside the 5-yard line and Howard capped the drive off with a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line for his second touchdown run as a Buckeye.

A muffed punt by Brandon Inniss following Marshall’s next possession would have given the Thundering Herd the ball inside the red zone, but Ohio State caught a break as the punt was nullified by an illegal formation penalty. Judkins took advantage of the Buckeyes’ good fortune as he ran for an 86-yard touchdown, tied for the third-longest run in Ohio State history.

Henderson followed that up with a 14-yard touchdown run on Ohio State’s next drive to make it 28-7 Buckeyes with 3:33 to play before halftime.

Marshall made it a two-score game with six seconds to go before halftime when Earle completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Metcalf after a targeting penalty against Caden Curry allowed the Thundering Herd into the red zone.

Marshall’s 203 first-half yards of offense were more than either of Ohio State’s first two opponents, Akron (177) and Western Michigan (99), had in the entirety of their games against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State started pulling away quickly in the second half as Henderson extended the Buckeyes’ lead back to three scores by running for a 40-yard touchdown on Ohio State’s opening drive of the third quarter.

Ohio State punted for the first time all game on its second possession of the third quarter after Ryan Day was hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing with the officials. Day was upset because the officials held the snap to allow Marshall to substitute without resetting the play clock, forcing Ohio State to call a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty.

The Buckeyes got back to the end zone on their third possession of the second half as Jeremiah Smith easily ran away from the defense on a 53-yard catch-and-run for his fourth touchdown in three games as a Buckeye.

Judkins made it a five-score game with 13:46 to play in the fourth quarter when he stiff-armed Marshall linebacker Landyn Watson into the turf on his way to the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown run, the final scoring play of the game.

With the non-conference portion of the season out of the way, Ohio State will begin Big Ten play next week as it hits the road for the first time this season to play Michigan State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on Peacock.

Team Stats

OHIO STATE     MARSHALL
569 TOTAL YARDS 264
280 RUSHING YARDS 125
31 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 41
9.0 AVERAGE PER RUSH 2.9
5 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 1
289 PASSING YARDS 139
18-26 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 18-27
16.1 AVERAGE PER COMPLETION 7.7
2 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 1
23 1st DOWNS 18
57 TOTAL PLAYS 70
10.0 YARDS PER PLAY 3.8
4-8 3RD DOWNS 7-18
5-54 PENALTIES 8-52
23:45 POSSESSION 36:15
1 TURNOVERS 0

Game Notes

  • Hero Kanu made his first career start at defensive tackle in place of Tyleik Williams, who was unavailable for Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury. Tywone Malone Jr. and Jason Moore also saw action at 3-technique with Williams out.
  • Inniss served as Ohio State’s kickoff returner, replacing Jayden Ballard in that capacity after Ballard misplayed Western Michigan’s only kickoff in Ohio State’s previous game.
  • Emeka Egbuka topped 100 receiving yards in a game for the first time since 2022.
  • Austin Snyder took over kickoff duties in the second half after Jayden Fielding had three straight kickoffs out of bounds in the second quarter.
  • Caden Curry was ejected for the remainder of the game after his second-quarter targeting penalty. He will not have to serve a suspension for the next game since the penalty was in the first half.
  • Seven NFL teams had scouts in attendance for the game: Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions, New York Giants and Chicago Bears.
  • Former Ohio State players in attendance included Maurice Clarett, Ted Ginn Jr. and Johnnie Dixon.
  • 103,871 people attended the game.

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