COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Now that the appetizers have been served up, No. 3 Ohio State can finally move on to the main course.
The Buckeyes’ three-game slate of tuneup games ended with a 49-14 rout of Marshall on Saturday. The Thundering Herd found ways to exploit the Ohio State defense early but couldn’t keep up with its cadre of offensive stars.
Now it’s nothing but Big Ten opponents the rest of the way for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State outscored Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall 107-20. The Buckeyes should get a better idea of where they stand in a prime-time game against Michigan State next Saturday and more challenging matchups down the road.
“Right now, I feel like we’re in a decent spot,” said receiver Emeka Egbuka, who led the team Saturday with five catches for 117 yards and a TD. “We’re able to have a successful running game, a successful passing attack. So, a lot of credit to the coaches.”
Ohio State will follow up the trip to East Lansing, Michigan, with a home game against Iowa before traveling the farthest ever for a Big Ten game to play No. 9 Oregon on Oct. 12.
That three-game stretch should reveal some more truths about the Buckeyes.
“You don’t know until you get off the field, but we go against good players every day in practice. So it’s not like we don’t know what we look like against good players,” coach Ryan Day said. “So we’ll just go with what we see and grow from it from there.”
Ohio State’s offensive weapons were on display Saturday.
Quinshon Judkins rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns, TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two and Emeka Egbuka caught two touchdown passes. Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith has 281 receiving yards and four TDs in three games, including an electrifying 53-yard catch and run against Marshall.
“I think that all of this stuff that we’ve done has presented problems for defenses,” said Will Howard, who was 16 for 20 for 275 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against Marshall. “You know, you got to just continue to adjust and adapt to whatever they’re going to do.”
One of the issues for Ohio State is a defensive line that gave up chunk plays to the Herd, who had two extended drives that resulted in first-half touchdowns. Marshall had 125 rushing yards and 18 first downs. Starting defensive lineman Tyleik Williams was a last-minute scratch. Day didn’t give a reason but said he is “day to day.”
“There’s still some things we’re going to watch on this film that we’re not going to pleased with,” Day said of the defense.
Cornerback Jordan Hancock said the Buckeyes are ready for Michigan State.
“Super excited, man. Super excited,” Hancock said. “I can’t wait to play some of the Big Ten teams. Those games are always exciting, especially our first away game. So, I can’t wait to go play.”
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