Ohio State football: 3 takeaways from win over Youngstown State
By Eric Boggs
The Ohio State football team made it 48 consecutive victories over in-state opponents after defeating the Youngstown State University by a score of 35-7 in a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Columbus.
Both offenses started hot, scoring touchdowns on their first drives, but it would be all Buckeyes after that as Ohio State scored 28 unanswered points. Once again, both quarterbacks played for the Buckeyes with redshirt freshman Devin Brown getting more of an opportunity than he did in week one against Indiana.
However, it was redshirt sophomore Kyle McCord who stole the show and more than likely solidified himself as QB1 for Ryan Day moving forward.
Youngstown State didn’t play scared and at times didn’t look overmatched. But at the end of the day, Ohio State just had too much depth and was too athletic for the Penguins to keep up.
Before Ohio State turns the page to focus on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, let’s take a look at the three takeaways from today’s win for the Buckeyes.
1. Kyle McCord is the starting quarterback
If there was any doubt about who the starting quarterback should be moving forward between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown, those questions were answered emphatically by McCord. He began the day hitting Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 71-yard bomb for the first score of the afternoon to put the Buckeyes up and get the 102,000 plus in attendance on their feet.
That wouldn’t be their only connection on the day as the former high school teammates rekindled their chemistry with one another. Last week, McCord found it difficult to find his top target, who finished that opening game in Bloomington, Indiana with only two catches for 18 yards. Two drives later near the end of the opening quarter, McCord found Harrison Jr. again, this time backpedaling into the back of the end zone as he caught his second touchdown falling down.
McCord finished the game 14-of-20 passing for 258 yards and three touchdowns. Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State’s other top receiver, also had a much better performance after a lackluster opening game, catching five passes for 94 yards and a score.
McCord looked more comfortable in the pocket and found himself getting in rhythm with his main targets. When Brown was in, the offense appeared clunky and discombobulated at times. At this point, it is pretty obvious that McCord is the starting quarterback moving forward, thus ending the QB competition in Columbus.