No. 2 Ohio State demolishes Western Michigan, 56-0, to improve to 2-0

Julian Sayin finds Bennett Christian for the 55-yard touchdown. And we have a tight end scoring for the first time tonight.

Ohio State is up 56-0 with 5:01 to go in the fourth quarter.

We get our first look at Julian Sayin, the freshman quarterback from Carlsbad, California. He replaces Devin Brown, who went a perfect 5-for-5 in completions for 57 yards.

With Ohio State leading 49-0, fans have slowly started to stream out of Ohio Stadium. That should be good news for postgame traffic. I imagine it’s better than a full rush at the end of the game.

For the sixth time this evening, the ground game delivers for Ohio State. This time, freshman running back James Peoples finds the endzone on a 12-yard score, capping off an eight play, 81-yard drive that lasted 4:13.

Ohio State now leads 49-0 with 0:05 left in the third quarter.

In his second game as a Buckeye, the quarterback went 18-for-26 for 292 passing yards and a touchdown. Howard also added a rushing score of six yards in his only carry of the evening.

With Ohio State leading 42-0 with 4:18 left in the third quarter, Will Howard’s night is done and it’s time to see what Devin Brown can do at quarterback.

TreVeyon Henderson with his second touchdown of the night. A 16-yard rush extends the Ohio State lead to 42-0 with 6:44 to go in the third quarter.

Scoring drive: Six plays, 40 yards in 3:15.

Will Howard to Brandon Innis for 19 yards to keep this Ohio State possession alive. Buckeyes in the red zone.

102,665 fans came out to Ohio Stadium for tonight’s game against Western Michigan.

Things go from bad to worse for Western Michigan. Facing third down, the Broncos fumble the ball, recovered by Jaden Nixon for a 20-yard loss to the three yard line.

WMU forced to punt and Ohio State will start from the Broncos 40-yard line.

– The defense should get the credit it deserves. It has only allowed three third down conversions on ten attempts and the closest the Broncos got was a missed field goal. Six other WMU drives ended in punts.

– Will Howard’s decision making is spot on. The QB has had plenty of weapons, particularly on the ground with the two-headed monster of Quinshon and TreVeyon. And when he has to, he’s willing to do the work himself, like with that QB keeper in the second quarter.

– Jeremiah Smith is the real deal. He may only have one touchdown to his name so far but he leads the receiving corps with over 100 yards, including that memorable 70-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

The Ohio State offense is, for the most part, clicking on all cylinders while the defense is pitching a shutout. The Buckeyes have a comfortable 35-0 lead heading into the locker room, with four rushing touchdowns and a Jeremiah Smith score.

And the Buckeyes get the ball back to start the second half.

First six possessions:

TreVeyon Henderson TD
Jeremiah Smith TD
Quinshon Judkins TD
Punt
Quinshon Judkins TD
Will Howard TD

35-0 @nbc4i
— Joe Nugent (@joenuge) September 8, 2024

The senior from Pickerington will not be denied as he gets his hands on Hayden Wolff, bringing the Western Michigan QB down and forcing third down.

Will Howard on the quarterback keeper runs it in to the corner of the endzone for the touchdown, his first rushing score as a Buckeye. The six-yard dash to the house completes a six-lay, 70-yard drive that take 2:34.

Ohio State has a 35-0 lead with 4:20 to go.

Quinshon Judkins finds the endzone for the second time this evening. This time a 23-yard run to complete a quick four-play, 65-yard drive that took 1:17 off the clock.

Chip Kelly did say he wanted to see the Buckeyes run the ball more. Three of OSU’s four scores have come on the ground. Buckeyes lead 28-0 with 8:28 to go.

During this timeout, Ohio State women’s basketball is being honored at the 20-yard line following their Big Ten regular season championship last season.

I assume to the relief of Broncos fans, the Buckeyes come up scoreless on this drive. They’re probably grateful for that holding penalty because otherwise, it would be 28-0.

But the OSU punt gets down to the Western Michigan six-yard line so the visitors have a ways to go if they want to get on the scoreboard.

Quinshon just made an impressive run all the way to the endzone, evading defenders but there’s a flag on the play.

Holding on the offense. Bryson Rodgers.

Western Michigan quarterback Hayden Wolff is swallowed up by the Buckeyes defense, forcing a Broncos punt.

Ohio State will begin its next drive at their own 20-yard line. OSU has scored a touchdown on each of its first three drives. We’ll see what the offense has in store here.

After further review, the officials find that Denzel Burke lowered the crown of his helmet on that last play. The senior cornerback is ejected from the game for targeting, despite a late plea from head coach Ryan Day to the officials.

Quinshon Judkins cuts through and finds the corner of the endzone for the touchdown and things are getting out of hand real fast here at Ohio Stadium.

Second rushing score of the contest. This time a 23-yard run to put OSU up 21-0 with 1:02 to go in the first quarter.

Hayden Wolff opted to run the ball more but couldn’t get much past the Ohio State defense, which forces its second three-and-out of the game. Buckeyes have the ball for the third time in this opening quarter.

Through two drives, QB Will Howard is a perfect 7-for-7 through the air and already has 127 yards. The Kansas State transfer continues to show why he earned the starting job over Devin Brown and Lincoln Keinholz.

The Jeremiah Smith show strikes again.

Following a holding penalty, Will Howard found the freshman wide receiver who just has so much speed. He outruns four defenders on his way to the endzone for a 70-yard touchdown, his first of the game.

Smith puts the Buckeyes up 14-0. 4:00 left in the opening quarter.

Ryan Day said the tight ends would be more involved tonight, Gee Scott caught a pass on the first play. Led to a touchdown on the first drive, that too was a point of emphasis, a faster start, Ohio State leads Western Michigan 7-0 @nbc4i
— Joe Nugent (@joenuge) September 7, 2024

The Broncos were able to convert a pair of third downs before Luka Zurak attempted a 42-yard field goal that went wide right. Ohio State still ahead 7-0 with 6:28 to go in the opening quarter.

Well Ryan Day wanted to see a faster start from his Buckeyes compared to week 1. Couldn’t have asked for a better beginning to the contest. A three and out forced by the OSU defense followed by a mix of passes and runs by Will Howard. Very efficient so far.

That did not take long at all. TreVeyon Henderson scores the opening touchdown of the evening with a three-yard rush up the middle. Six plays, 55 yards and 2:35 is all it took as OSU takes a 7-0 lead over Western Michigan.

Back to back catches by Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Ebuka has Ohio State at the 30 yard line on its opening drive.