Leading by just four points nearly a minute into the third quarter, Ohio State scored 24 unanswered points to pull away from the Ohio Bobcats and claim a 37-9 win to round out the non-conference slate last night in Ohio Stadium.
Julian Sayin completed 25-of-32 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns, albeit against two interceptions, although he endured a bit of bad luck as one was tipped twice and the other came as pass protection collapsed in his face. Sayin didn't look overly comfortable in the red zone, misfiring on a couple throws and failing to locate the most open receiver at least once.
Despite the two turnovers, Sayin unleashed several outstanding tosses and once again made use of the deep ball hitting Jeremiah Smith from 47 yards out for a score. He followed it up with a 49-yard scoring strike to Carnell Tate on OSU's next possession.
Smith finished with nine catches for 153 yards giving him back-to-back 100-yard receiving games and and seven through 19 games as a Buckeye. He also became the fastest OSU receiver to 1,500 career receiving yards. The freak of nature added a 17-yard touchdown run to round out the game's scoring.
Tate tallied five grabs for 101 yards, good for his second 100-yard game as a Buckeye.
Ohio State's defense held the Bobcats to 28 yards, three first downs and three points in the first half. A 67-yard catch and run touchdown on Ohio's opening possession of the second half was the biggest breakdown of the night. If you throw that play out the window, Ohio averaged 2.1 yards per play on its other 54 snaps on the night.
Owning a perfect 3-0 record and the No. 1 spot in the AP and Coaches polls, the Buckeyes have an open date next Saturday before traveling to Seattle to take on Washington in the Big Ten opener for both squads.
Before we turn our focus to conference play, here are Five Things from a 28-point win over our in-state brethren.
SEEING RED ZONE
A lot of things can get Ryan Day cranky and failing to score touchdowns in the red zone is probably top-three on his list.
Last night, the Buckeyes made six trips to the red zone and came away with two touchdowns. Three trips resulted in field goals and another yielded zero points.
The first red zone visit, on the game's opening possession, saw Ohio State set up with 1st-and-Goal at the 9-yard line but two short runs and an incompletion that was ever so close to a touchdown toss to Carnell Tate led to a 4th-and-Goal sack of Julian Sayin for a turnover on downs.
The second trip resulted in a 38-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead on 4th-and-2 from the OU 20.
The third visit came as the Buckeyes earned 1st-and-10 from the Bobcats 19 and eventually a 1st-and-Goal from the 3 before the possession fell apart. Sayin missed Jeremiah Smith on first down, CJ Donaldson ran for one yard on second down, and Sayin threw too low to Smith in the back corner of the end zone on third down forcing OSU to settle for a 20-yard field goal and a 6-0 lead.
The fourth trip finally produced a touchdown as Sayin bought time on a scramble to his right and found tight end Max Klare in the back of the end zone on 3rd-and-10 from the OU 16-yard line.
The second half saw OSU immediately reach the red zone but with 1st-and-10 at the Bobcats 11-yard line, the Buckeyes were flagged for delay of game. The lost yardage was followed by a short run and two short passes leading to a 22-yard field goal for a 16-9 lead.
Max Klare has his first @OhioStateFB TD.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 14, 2025
: Peacock pic.twitter.com/ONfB2ZDIGg
Ohio State's final red zone trip saw Smith get loose on an end around for an easy touchdown on 1st-and-10 from the Ohio 17.
Overall, the Buckeyes scored 23 red zone points out of a possible 42. Yeah, that won't make Day happy. It didn't matter last night but it certainly could in a matchup game.
Through the small sample size of three games, Ohio State ranks No. 54 nationally in red zone touchdown rate (10-of-15, 67%) and 73rd in overall red zone scoring rate (13-of-15, 87%).
BO DESERVES TO START
Having entered the season as Ohio State's third-string tailback, Bo Jackson put up another strong case to be the starter as he turned 11 touches into 130 yards against the Bobcats.
In the run game, Jackson carried it nine times for 109 yards with a long of 64 to average 12.1 per attempt. That statline was damn near identical to his performance a week ago when he gashed Grambling State for 108 yards on nine carries with a long of 51.
Not that last night's game was ever in doubt but Jackson came up big when Ohio State needed points. Leading just 13-9 after Ohio scored a touchdown less than a minute into the third quarter, Jackson took a handoff on the first play of the ensuing possession and raced up the gut and down the right sideline for a 64 yard gain. The dash gave the Buckeyes 1st-and-10 at the 11 and while they could only finish the drive with a field goal, it pushed the lead to 16-9 and let the defense reset.
Bo can go
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 14, 2025
Bo Jackson breaks free for a big @OhioStateFB run.
: Peacock pic.twitter.com/layC5RLlyT
There's just a different feel when Jackson touches the ball compared to CJ Donaldson and James Peoples. Jackson hits the hole with more speed and velocity and has found much more success getting to the second level while Donaldson (4.6 ypc) and Peoples (5.0 ypc) seem more plodding through the line of scrimmage.
Through three games, Jackson has seven runs of at least 10 yards in just 18 carries. Meanwhile, Donaldson and Peoples have combined for six runs of at least 10 yards... in 58 total carries.
Jackson should be RB1 heading into the conference opener at Washington in two weeks.
DIRTY LAUNDRY
If Day was most frustrated by the red zone issues, Ohio State's six accepted penalties probably wen't too far down his list.
Right guard Tegra Tshabola did the Buckeyes no favors with two flags. The first, a false start, turned a 2nd-and-4 from the OU 22 to 2nd-and-9 from the 27. Two plays later, Ohio State had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. On the next OSU offensive series, Tshabola drew a personal foul penalty turning what should've been a 1st-and-10 at the OU 19 to a 1st-and-10 at the OU 34. Again the Buckeyes had to settle for a field goal to take a 6-0 lead.
On the next play after Jackson's 64-yard romp revved up the crowd and put OSU in business at the Ohio 11, a delay of game killed momentum and again contributed to a drive ending with three points instead of six.
Freshman Devin Sanchez picked up a block in the back flag on a Jeremiah Smith punt return forcing Ohio State to start a drive at it's own 22 instead of the 32.
Kenyatta Jackson Jr. picked up a defensive delay of game for I guess barking out cadence or clapping and Davison Igbinosun drew a holding penalty turning a 2nd-and-9 from the OSU 39 to 1st-and-10 from the 29. Ohio kicked a field goal four plays later cutting Ohio State's lead to 13-3.
The good news is the Buckeyes have been fairly clean so far this season, averaging a very respectable 4.3 accepted penalties per game, good for No. 22 nationally.
ON GUARD
As the breakdown above highlighted, two of the six penalties were attributed to right guard Tegra Tshabola, directly contributing to two red zone possessions ending in field goals.
Those weren't Tegra's only issues of the night. Another glaring play unless I misinterpreted some exotic blocking scheme was his failure to rotate over to his left and pick up a rusher heading straight for Sayin.
With Sayin pressured (he should've eaten it), he tried to release the ball but was hit on the throw resulting in his second interception of the night.
I'm not sure how many snaps Ethan Onianwa saw in relief of Tshabola last night but I won't be stunned if the timeshare increases in two weeks at Washington or even if Onianwa starts.
Ohio State needs Tshabola and make no mistake, he's made his share of positive plays up front over the last few years but right guard appears to be the biggest area of opportunity across the offensive line through three games.
THE DEFENSE RESTS
Matt Patricia's defense made it three-straight games without allowing double-digit points, earning a well-deserved rest before the Buckeyes begin conference play in two weeks.
One score allowed came after a Sayin interception gave the Bobcats the ball in OSU territory at the 40. The defense stiffened, allowing 14 yards in five plays, holding Ohio to a 44-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the first half to take a 13-3 lead into the locker room.
The next Ohio score came on the ensuing possession as the Bobcats took the ball to start the second half. After an 8-yard keeper on first down, Lorenzo Styles Jr. gave up a 23-yard catch to Chase Hendricks to the OSU 44 before the play completely unraveled as Styles made a very poor attempt to bring Hendricks down leading to a 67-yard touchdown. Styles was in decent coverage but failed to realize the ball was in the air until it was too late. Nobody loves that but it happens. What can't happen is the poor attempt get Hendricks on the grounds after the catch turning a 23-yard play into a 67-yard score.
What a way to start the second half @ChaseHendricks_ | @OhioFootball | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/ysaY4xqpAW
— MACtion (@MACSports) September 14, 2025
Other than that however, the defense did it's job allowing just three other chunk plays (16-yard pass, 11-yard run, 10-yard run) in 55 total snaps.
The Bobcats tallied 181 total yards including 68 on the ground via two yards per carry. Ohio State held OU to 3-of-15 on third down, gave up only nine first downs all game and racked up four sacks and seven tackles for loss. I don't have a stat to back it up but through three games, this defense seems to rarely miss tackles.
Caden Curry had four stops, a sack, a PBU and a hurry as he and Beau Atkinson (two tackles, two TFL, one sack) continue to look like Ohio State's two best defensive ends in my mind.
Arvell Reese again showcased his speed and versatility with seven stops, two PBU, a sack and a hurry and Caleb Downs was Caleb Downs with six tackles and a TFL.
I continue thinking Jaylen McClain's emergence at safety is a huge story for this defense as it gives Patricia that much more flexibility to line up Downs all over the field knowing McClain looks like a veteran despite so little playing time heading into this season.
