Junior running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) hurdles a defender during Ohio State’s 35-7 win over Youngstown State Saturday. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
One minute and 26 seconds.
That’s how long it took for Kyle McCord to connect with Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 71-yard touchdown— the longest reception of his career.
This drive foreshadowed four more scoring drives in No. 5 Ohio State’s (2-0) 35-7 win over (Football Championship Subdivision) No. 25 Youngstown State (1-1) Saturday in the Buckeyes’ home opener.
“Early in games like this, how you play matters,” head coach Ryan Day said. “I liked that we came out of the gates playing well, you know, they’re fresh.”
The Penguins held their own in the first quarter.
Senior quarterback Mitch Davidson led Youngstown State down the field for 75 yards and a rushing score — his second of the season — after gaining momentum off a 36-yard pass to sophomore receiver Max Tomczak.
After a Buckeye three-and-out and an unsuccessful 10-yard Penguin drive, juniors McCord and Harrison again returned to their high school ways with a 39-yard connection in the end zone.
With sophomore Devin Brown leading the charge for the first time of the contest, the next possession ended in six for Ohio State, but it didn’t come easy.
“This was really his first live action where he got to open the offense up a little bit,” McCord said. “He made some really good throws, some really good runs.”
Brown converted a fourth-and-7 and faced another fourth-down situation until the Penguins’ Greg Benton Jr. got called for a late hit out of bounds, giving way to an Ohio State first down at the 32-yard line.
Junior running back TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 13 yards into the end zone but dropped the ball just across the plain. Officials called it a fumble recovered by Youngstown State on the field, but it was overturned in favor of the Buckeyes following review.
With 9:07 to play in the second quarter, Ohio State began pulling away, up 21-7.
Six minutes later, junior receiver Emeka Egbuka scored his first touchdown of the 2023 season on a 28-yard pass from McCord.
Youngstown State punted once more before the clock hit zero heading into halftime after a collaborative tackle by senior defensive lineman Ty Hamilton and graduate linebacker Tommy Eichenberg. Eichenberg led the defense with five tackles in the half and six total.
Shortly after suffering a sack for a 7-yard loss at the hands of Eichenberg, Davidson was replaced by redshirt-freshman quarterback Beau Brungard. Four plays in, Brungard went long for a touchdown pass that was intercepted by junior cornerback Denzel Burke.
“Coach [Tim] Walt[on] got a saying, ‘You are what you put on tape,’ and I’m gonna be trying to be laser focused every play, every drive, and put good stuff on tape,” Burke said.
Burke’s pick was the first by an Ohio State cornerback since the 2021 season.
With under two minutes left in the third quarter, Henderson ran for 30 yards into the end zone. Henderson is just 78 yards away from reaching 2,000 career-rushing — sitting at 1,922.
“A healthy TreVeyon Henderson is scary,” McCord said. “He’s shown flashes of it,”
Despite no fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Buckeyes put up 28 unanswered points on the Penguins and McCord had 70 percent completion for 258 yards on three touchdowns.
Ohio State’s offensive and defensive starters remained in the game for its entirety.
The Buckeyes will return to Ohio Stadium Saturday against Western Kentucky at 4 p.m.
