Ohio State Passing Game Finds Its Groove Against Arkansas State Despite Absence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Neither Arkansas State nor the absence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba could stop the Ohio State pass attack Saturday, as C.J. Stroud and Marvin Harrison Jr. erased any concerns about a slow start to the season.

Before kickoff against the Red Wolves, Ohio State’s star receiver came out of the tunnel in street clothes for the Buckeyes’ final preseason warmups, sidelined by a hamstring injury he suffered in the first quarter against Notre Dame last week. His presence was sorely missed even in a winning effort in the season opener.

Without Smith-Njigba, Stroud had the second-fewest passing yards of his career, and the Buckeye offense didn’t look the same. In fact, its 395 total yards were fewer than it had in any game in 2021, and Ohio State’s final 21-point tally was its lowest-scoring performance of the Ryan Day era. In the aftermath, Stroud admitted Smith-Njigba might be “the best player on the team” and one who indelibly impacts the Buckeyes whether he’s on the field or not.

However, if you squinted at the Buckeye offense in Week 2, you might not have noticed he was gone.

“We need (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) for sure. Jax is a big part of the team. But we got to step up.”– Marvin Harrison Jr.

Stroud completed 16 of his 24 passes for 351 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers on the day, returning to the form that made him a Heisman Trophy finalist as a redshirt freshman. But it was Harrison who had the actual breakout performance, hauling in three of Stroud’s four scoring throws en route to a 184-yard effort at wideout. Each of Harrison’s touchdowns went for at least 30 yards as the Buckeyes routinely connected on the type of explosive plays they lacked a bit against Notre Dame.

“He’s very mature for his age. So is Emeka (Egbuka). But Marvin’s route-running is, again, very mature for his age,” Day said after the game. “To see somebody that’s played as much as he has with just the high level of route-running is pretty remarkable. … So the potential is there. You can see the couple of plays he made. He did it in a bunch of different ways. He got a couple of slants that got us going.

“Marvin was a big part of getting us going, certainly had the big-play capability. And when you’re playing against a team that wants to really load the box and press you at the line of scrimmage, you got to win on the outside. And he did that for us today.”

Harrison’s three-touchdown Rose Bowl performance in January might have been his coming-out party, but an out-of-sync debut to his sophomore season seemed to stifle that momentum. Six of Stroud’s incompletions in the season opener were on passes to Harrison, who hauled in just five of the 11 throws that came his way. Among those were a couple of potential touchdowns that could have helped Ohio State separate from Notre Dame much earlier.

Stroud said this past week he still had to feel things out with some of his new starters, given the departures of Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson over the offseason. If Saturday is any indication, that process only took one week.

Harrison caught two 42-yard touchdowns in the first half and another 30-yarder at the end of the third quarter, with the latter score coming spectacularly through double coverage. Harrison averaged 26.2 yards per catch on his seven receptions for the day, with four of his seven going for at least 30 yards.

Prepare to relive all three of Marvin Harrison Jr.'s touchdowns against Arkansas State.pic.twitter.com/bFe5qNSCIb
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 10, 2022

The longest gain for the Philadelphia native came on the Buckeyes’ second possession when he picked up 45 yards just two plays before an eight-yard score by TreVeyon Henderson. Even when Harrison wasn’t finding the end zone himself, he was helping set them up for the Buckeye offense.

“Definitely, we need Jax for sure. Jax is a big part of the team. But we got to step up,” Harrison said. “Next guy up, that’s our mentality. So me and Mek, we both gotta do our roles. Also, we got Xaiver (Johnson), Jayden (Ballard), we got a lot of players trying to step up to fill (in for) Jax because Jax is a big part of our team, for sure.”

Harrison joined Joey Galloway as just the second Buckeye to have more than one career game with three receiving touchdowns. But he wasn’t the only Ohio State wideout to have a big day.

IN JUST THREE STARTS! pic.twitter.com/5PuuL8PKxn
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 10, 2022

Emeka Egbuka had a rock-solid showing, and he continues to take advantage of an uptick in opportunities due to injuries sustained by Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming. After leading the Buckeyes with nine catches, 90 yards and a score against Notre Dame, Egbuka joined Harrison in notching his first 100-yard effort Saturday, finishing with 118 and a touchdown on just four catches.

Egbuka did most of his damage in the third quarter when the very first play of the second half opened with a 44-yard gain by the five-star recruit. Just two plays later, Henderson scored his second touchdown of the game.

After a three-and-out by the Red Wolves immediately after that, Egbuka exploded for the biggest gain of the day for Ohio State, jetting through the middle of the Arkansas State defense for a 51-yard touchdown to put the Buckeyes up 38-9 after the PAT.

Even Buckeye tight end Cade Stover got in on the act, getting open downfield for a 35-yard gain to help set up an eventual field goal on Ohio State’s second drive of the afternoon.

“I definitely think it shows everybody, including ourselves, the depth that we do have once those guys do come back,” Stroud said. “Thank God it’s not crazy injuries, and (Smith-Njigba and Fleming) will be back either next week or the week after that. So it’s amazing just to see those young guys step up even more.”

Ohio State didn’t look perfect on Saturday, and Day said the way the Buckeyes finished the game on offense – punting on back-to-back possessions with the backups in during the fourth quarter – drew the ire of the head coach in particular.

But the Buckeyes proved their passing game as potent as ever, even without two of its top four pass catchers in the contest. Once Ohio State is at full strength in its wide receiver room, the Buckeyes should have a unit that rivals any in recent scarlet and gray history.

“We’re gonna be – I think we can be special for sure,” Harrison said. “Just take it one game at a time though, keep getting better, having good practices throughout the week. That’s gonna be important.”