Freshman Tracker: Quinn Ewers Makes His Debut, Kyle McCord Burns His Redshirt and Denzel Burke Suffers Injury Scare in Michigan State Victory

On a beautiful November Saturday, 15 of Ohio State's 23 scholarship freshmen played in the 56-7 massacre of Michigan State. The 2021 freshmen helped the Buckeyes win their sixth straight game against the Spartans and seventh of the last nine played in Ohio Stadium.

Tyleik Williams gets a little help from his freshman friends

It wasn't the prettiest play, but a sack is a sack in the record books. Early in the fourth quarter, Payton Thorne dropped back to pass on a first down play. The Spartan quarterback rolled to his right and was harassed by Jack Sawyer. Thorne stopped in his tracks and cut back to the middle of the field.

J.T. Tuimoloau entered the fray and forced Thorne into Tyleik Williams' space. The disrupting defensive tackle shed off an offensive lineman and recorded the two-yard sack by leaping at Thorne's feet. Tuimoloau landed on Thorne to finish him off.

Williams has been stuffing the stat sheet this season. He has now recorded 14 tackles, five sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.

On the snap following Williams' sack, Reid Carrico and Sawyer combined to stop Elijah Collins for a three-yard gain. Carrico read his window and filled quickly, while Sawyer took a wide rush then came off of right tackle Spencer Brown and helped Carrico complete the stop. 

In the second quarter, Williams made his presence felt on back-to-back plays. On Michigan State's first play after Miyan Williams scored to make it 35-0, Tyleik Williams plowed toward Thorne and swatted down a pass attempt. On second down, Willliams put pressure on Thorne and forced the haggard quarterback to hurl the ball out of bounds. 

DBU PBU

Late in the first quarter, with Ohio State leading 14-0, Michigan State was threatening at the Buckeyes' 29-yard line. On 3rd-and-10, Payton Thorne threw for Jayden Reed on a stick route that Reed appeared to bring down. As the Reed proceeded to reach for the first down, Denzel Burke separated the ball from Reed as the receiver stretched for the first down and Bryson Shaw scooped up the ball.

Following a lengthy video review, it was determined to be an incomplete pass and Burke was credited with a broken up pass. The ruling evoked bad memories of the 2019 Fiesta Bowl against Clemson, but Michigan State missed the ensuing field goal attempt and the Buckeyes took over in better field position than what they would have had following Shaw's fumble recovery.

On the first play of Michigan State's next possession, Thorne again tried to connect with Reed. Burke was step-for-step with the Spartans' best receiver and swatted the pass to the ground. As Burke continued toward the sideline, however, it was apparent he hurt his left shoulder. The Buckeyes' best defensive back sat out the rest of the series before returning to the game. 

Kyle McCord sheds redshirt

Despite saying this week that Ohio State wanted to preserve Kyle McCord’s redshirt, Ryan Day turned to McCord to lead the offense following Ohio State's first possession of the second half, burning McCord’s redshirt in the process as he made his fifth game appearance of the season.

The signal-caller from Pennsylvania had a rocky start. His first pass of the game was intercepted by Justin White. There appeared to be plenty of green space in front of Sam Wiglusz had the pass led the receiver down the field. Instead, the ball was short and fell into White's hands.

McCord's last pass of the game was also a learning experience. With the crowd chanting for Day to hand the ball off to Master Teague, the coach called for a pass play. McCord took the snap and immediately rolled left. Marvin Harrison Jr. was the No. 1 receiver to the left side and was McCord's target in the back of the end zone. Harrison Jr. was open, but the pass was high and behind the receiver. The high school teammates were unable to connect for what would have been Harrison Jr.'s first score and McCord's third.

McCord finished the day four completions for 17 yards and the interception on 25 snaps. For the season, McCord is now 25-of-38 for 416 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Quinn Ewers' debut

With 1:20 remaining in the game, Quinn Ewers made his Ohio State debut. The top-ranked freshman from Texas stood in his own end zone to take his first collegiate snap. The mulleted one did a fine job catching both snaps and promptly handing the ball off to Robert Cope both times to end the game.

This couch analyst mistakenly thought Ewers would have been the quarterback to replace Stroud in the third quarter, as that would have spared McCord burning his redshirt season. Perhaps the thought behind playing McCord was to give the No. 2 quarterback more game experience in case Stroud is unavailable at any point in the remainder of the season.

Henderson scoreless

For only the second time in 11 games to start his career, TreVeyon Henderson did not cross the goal line against Michigan State. Of the 29 snaps he was on the field, per Pro Football Focus, Day only called Henderson's number to run the ball nine times.

With the limited touches, the electric back was still able to gain 63 yards and averaged an impressive seven yards per carry. With the game in hand, Henderson did not see the field in the second half.

Day understands the battle his team faces on the last Saturday of November. It is of utmost importance to have Henderson and Miyan Williams healthy and hungry to pound the Wolverines, so Master Teague played nearly the entire second half while Henderson and Williams rested.

Special teams and snaps spotlight

Denzel Burke played 25 defensive snaps and was on the field goal block team and punt return team once.

Reid Carrico had seven defensive snaps, was on the punt return team twice and the kickoff team once.

Mike Hall was on the field for three defensive snaps and was on the punt return team once.

Jordan Hancock was on the punt return team four times and the kickoff team twice.

Marvin Harrison Jr. played a season-high 40 offensive snaps and was on the punt return team five times and the kickoff return team twice.

Donovan Jackson played 28 offensive snaps and protected on Ohio State's eight extra points and the lone field goal attempt.

Jesse Mirco was called upon to punt one time. He rolled out to his right and blasted a rugby-style kick 50 yards that was fair caught at the 18-yard line. Mirco also held on all of Ohio State's extra points and field goals.

J.T. Tuimoloau had 12 defensive snaps, was on the punt return team twice and was on the field for Michigan State's lone extra point and field goal attempts.

Andre Turrentine was on the kickoff team once.

Tyleik Williams played 17 defensive snaps, was on the punt return team twice and was on the field for the Spartans' field goal attempt in the first quarter.

Zen Michalski made his season debut with Ewers for the final two snaps of the game. 

Under the NCAA's redshirt rules, a player can appear in up to four games at any point throughout the season and still count it as his redshirt year. Through the 11th game of the 2021 season, 20 of Ohio State's 23 scholarship true freshmen have seen the field, with 10 – Burke, Egbuka, Harrison Jr., Henderson, Jackson, McCord, Mirco, Saywer, Tuimoloau and Williams – now ineligible for redshirts as they've appeared in five or more games.

• #4 Ohio State 56, #7 Michigan State 7
• Nov. 20, 2021 • Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
• • The Buckeyes Dominated Michigan State on Senior Day
• • It Was the Best Day Yet From the Ohio State Defense
• • C.J. Stroud Builds His Heisman Trophy Resume
• • Chris Olave Breaks David Boston's Career Touchdown Receptions Record
• • Ohio State Postgame • Notebook • Quotebook
• • Photos • Five Things • Debriefing • 3 Key Stats • Social Reactions