COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three observations from Ohio State football’s 59-7 victory over Akron on Saturday.
1. After a shaky opening possession, Kyle McCord came back to the Ohio State sideline and held an impromptu meeting of the brain trust.
To his left sat C.J. Stroud, the quarterback whose sore right shoulder opened the door for McCord to make his Buckeye debut. Offensive analyst Todd Fitch, who by rule cannot actually coach players, hovered nearby. Soon OSU coach Ryan Day joined the conversation.
The time for analysis would come later. Day told the freshman to catch his breath and trust his eyes.
“I think the game was moving pretty fast for him early on,” Day said, “but he was working at hyper speed.”
McCord eventually settled down, completing eight passes in a row and 11 of 12 in one stretch. The majority of his 319 yards came after the catch, including Garrett Wilson’s 57-yard bubble screen and Emeka Egbuka turning a short route into an 85-yard gain. There is something to be said for getting the ball to OSU’s playmakers in space, but those are not the throws that create separation in the quarterback room.
While the starting quarterback typically talks to reporters after the game, Ohio State did not make McCord available Saturday night. Day said he wanted to further evaluate Stroud’s sore shoulder before commenting on which quarterback would start at Rutgers at the end of the week.
McCord looked shaky enough early on that Day turned to shovel passes to create some momentum for the offense and let his quarterback relax. McCord later showed his vertical comfort, including a great 39-yard strike to Wilson that set up Noah Ruggles’ 32-yard field goal right before halftime. He also made a bad vertical mistake, throwing his first career interception.
Day has expressed hesitancy at sharing the quarterback assignment on even a limited basis. It is a strategically defensible stance. Committing to a starter week to week allows that player, and by extension the offense, find a rhythm.
Day, though, also sounded like a coach eager to take a new set of data points from McCord and Jack Miller III and apply them to the weekly evaluation he must make to determine a starter.
“If we have one guy that we feel like or two guys that we feel like or three guys that we feel like can play and we can win a championship with them, we’re in pretty good shape,” Day said. “And I think we’re still working towards that.
“This was an opportunity to get those guys some reps, getting in the game and getting a real evaluation, which is really going to help them. In practice you see certain things a certain way, but then when it’s coming live and you get hit, it hurts. It’s a huge learning experience.”
Stroud has performed well enough, and McCord looked enough like a true freshman, that the former should start at Rutgers if healthy. McCord has also flashed enough that we cannot assume the best option to start on Oct. 2 is the best option to start on Thanksgiving.
Ohio State linebacker K’Vaughan Pope (36) is escorted to the locker room by Director Of Player Development C.J. Barnett late in the first half of the Buckeyes’ 59-7 victory over Akron.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
2. There is a chemistry experiment going on within Ohio State’s defense right now. The holdover veterans who Day and his staff inherited are mixing with the young talent he and his staff recruited.
Apparently, that concoction is at least somewhat combustible. That doesn’t mean the result will blow up a roster. It could fuse together a defense that has been searching for consistency since the end of last season.
Perhaps K’Vaughan Pope’s sideline eruption will ultimately be remembered as a one-time sideshow. Day bemoaned a transfer culture that allows players to ditch their teams midseason to preserve their eligibility. Yet sometimes a separation is better for all parties, and the portal allows players to move on without creating a distraction.
One problem: Just because Pope’s role was smaller than he wanted doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. Ohio State does not appear to have an abundance of linebackers who thrive in coverage. If he indeed leaves the program, or faces discipline for his behavior, who takes his snaps as a nickel linebacker alongside Cody Simon?
Maybe Palaie Gaoteote IV is comfortable enough to fill the void. Maybe Craig Young, after converting to a Bullet in the preseason, learns his linebacker days are not yet over. Regardless, OSU may need yet another new face to continue the theme and take over.
3. Ready for another science analogy for the OSU defense? How about the still-ongoing chain reaction that might lead to Josh Proctor’s replacement at free safety.
Sophomore Lathan Ransom opened the season as the slot corner, nudging aside fifth-year senior and returning starter Marcus Williamson. He sure seemed like a lock as one of OSU’s 11 best defenders. Then Cameron Martinez thrived in his first action against Tulsa, creating a bit of a quandary since, unless facing an opponent playing a lot of four-receiver sets as the Golden Hurricane did, he and Ransom played the same position.
So against Akron, Martinez drew the start, but not over Ransom. He had moved back to free safety, serving as Bryson Shaw’s backup. Ransom played frequently and recorded three tackles.
Akron could not test the back end of OSU’s defense the way upcoming Big Ten foes might. The secondary depth the coaching staff talked about in preseason camp only seemed important if it somehow made the first-string performance better.
The Martinez-Ransom swap might be an example of that happening in real time — maybe by accident, but potentially with lasting consequences.
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