Senior tight end Cade Stover (8) following his game-long 49-yard reception from junior quarterback Kyle McCord. Credit: Caleb Blake | Lantern Photo Editor
Saturday’s home opener against Youngstown State has the potential to silence the outside noise for a week— but the No. 5 Buckeyes must win big.
Ohio State’s (1-0) 23-3 win at Indiana last Saturday was not enough to convince Buckeye Nation this is a champion-caliber team, which is the expectation. To catch a break this week means a dominant win over No. 25 Youngstown State (1-0).
“For us, it’s about us. It’s about us trying to get better, get more film out there, figure out where we improve,” head coach Ryan Day said Tuesday. “People say you improve mentally from week one to week two, I think that’s important. And it’s certainly going to be important on Saturday.”
The Penguins are a Football Championship Subdivision school and defeated Valparaiso 52-10 in their season opener, including 35 unanswered second-half points.
The last timeout between the Buckeyes and Penguins was in 2008 when Ohio State completed a 43-0 shutout win. In 2007, the Buckeyes won in their first-ever matchup 38-6, making them the leader of the all-time series 2-0 — all within the walls of Ohio Stadium.
Youngstown State comes into Columbus this year with a new transfer running back, Tyshon King, who was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week, and its six leading receivers from a year ago.
The question is, how will they fare against Ohio State’s clear strength leaving Indiana — the defense? Following the game, junior defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau said he was disappointed they even allowed them three points.
“Guys are striving for a higher standard,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said Tuesday. “When you feel you’re on top of your game and you know you can stop them, you should.”
Ohio State’s defense notched 56 tackles — six for loss — and a sack by sophomore defensive tackle Hero Kanu.
After planning to defend attacks through the air, the Buckeyes’ defense was unexpectedly confronted by triple-option run packages. Knowles said the guys understood the system well and were able to make in-game adjustments.
Indiana attempted only 20 passes, while Youngstown State had 26 pass attempts versus Valparaiso.
Junior cornerback Jordan Hancock said a big part of preparing for the Penguins is knowing how to stop the pass, especially with senior receiver Bryce Oliver’s route running ability. He said this week, he is hoping for a shutout.
“We don’t want anybody to score any points against us,” Hancock said. “That’s our mentality.”
Oliver had five receptions for 65 yards in the season opener. Meanwhile, Buckeye receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had only two receptions for 18 yards. Though he would have had a 24-yard touchdown reception had it not been called back due to him illegally stepping out of bounds.
Day said on 97.1 The Fan Thursday morning he was informed by an unknown source that Harrison Jr.’s touchdown actually should have been counted for an additional six.
Ohio State’s leading receiver against Indiana was senior tight end Cade Stover, who notched a career-high 98-yard game on five touches.
Stover could be bound to have another career-best game as nine of Youngstown State’s 12 top tacklers in 2022 return to its defense and will look to strategically keep Harrison quiet.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons on this team, so just taking every opportunity you can and run with it,” Stover said. “Whoever’s getting doubled, it doesn’t matter, the ball’s got to come to somebody.”
The ball has to come from somebody, too.
Day said junior quarterback Kyle McCord will, again, be the starter. He said he intends on Brown seeing the field more than the two short series he led against Indiana.
“Maybe there’s more clarity moving forward,” Day said. “I’d love to say, ‘Yeah, Kyle’s the starter and Devin’s not gonna play,’ but that’s not the case. And that’s not fair to him either. That’s not fair to the team.”
The team and coaching staff have a mutual agreement that whoever leads them to the win column week after week should be the starter. Day said the offense will work itself out and Youngstown State is the next step in that process.
Though there is little history on the field between the Penguins and Buckeyes, they have a mutual leader in former Ohio State head coach and legend Jim Tressel.
Tressel led the Buckeyes to their first national championship in over 30 years in 2002 against the University of Miami, before that he was the head coach of Youngstown State for 15 years. He most recently retired as the nine-year president of the university.
“It’s gonna be a good afternoon and we have a lot of respect for the university,” Day said.
It has been 83 years since the Buckeyes have fallen to a Football Championship Subdivision school, which was a 21-7 defeat by Cornell in 1940.
Kickoff against the Penguins is set for noon and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
