Cleveland, OH
Ohio State football offense getting out of its own way against Western Kentucky: Halftime scribbles
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For at least one half, Ohio State football set aside its third-and-short woes while building a 42-10 lead over Western Kentucky.
TreVeyon Henderson converted a third-and-1 with a 2-yard run in the first quarter. Center Carson Hinzman, perhaps exorcising a week’s worth of public consternation about third-and-short failures, emphatically celebrated that plunge.
Kyle McCord, though, fumbled the ball away on a sack on the following play.
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In the second quarter, Ohio State threw out of a third-and-2 look — a play call rarity this season. Henderson took the swing pass 27 yards. On third-and-3 at the WKU 7-yard line, Henderson took a handoff again and followed his blocking all the way into the end zone.
This time it was right guard Josh Fryar punching the air with exuberance.
Ohio State came into the game last in the Big Ten and 114th in the nation with a 30.4% conversion rate on third down. It went 4 for 5 in the first half, including 3 for 3 on third-and-short.
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Other first-half observations:
• Defense missed a golden opportunity for a takeaway when it couldn’t recover a WKU fumble in the red zone despite having multiple chances. Then the Hilltoppers came out of a timeout with a smart play call, stacking four receivers to the left. OSU only matched with three defenders, and Malachi Corley pushed his way in for the touchdown on a screen.
• McCord answered a tried-and-true play from the Buckeye playbook. Emeka Egbuka motioned across as if to take a swing pass out of the backfield. That left Marvin Harrison Jr. wide open over the top for a one-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Next possession: Chip Trayanum’s breakaway for a one-play, 40-yard touchdown drive. Exactly the sort of explosive element the offense *had* to show off today.
• Ohio State had its “bison” package in when McCord suffered that strip-sack. Freshman offensive lineman Luke Montgomery was in the game wearing No 98 as the extra big man. But he got tossed aside by another big man, WKU’s Hosea Wheeler, who then got to McCord. Might be more accurate to put that sack on the QB, actually, as the line did give him time before the breakdown.
• For the second straight week, OSU called for the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss. Ryan Day’s previous pattern had been to defer and try to bookend halftime with possessions. Then the Buckeyes came out playing up-tempo. Day taking the reduced number of plays into his own hands. But again, the lack of efficiency and explosiveness in the first two games had been a bigger problem than the lack of opportunities.
Those qualities have been more present today.
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