Buckeyes Pummel Kent, Smith Sets Receiving Yards Record

Ohio State did the expected Saturday against the Golden Flashes, washing the bad taste of Texas dust from their mouths, while celebrating the accomplishments of Jeremiah Smith.

Columbus, OH – Texas tears behind them, the Big Ten schedule ahead, Ohio State pushed the reset button Saturday against another team destined for MAC mediocrity.

The predictable result: Ohio State 59, Kent State 3.

A second half full of young players making big plays – hello, freshmen Chris Henry Jr. and Jamir Perez with exciting fourth-quarter touchdowns – made the 52.5 point spread easily coverable. The Hail Mary 49-yard touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to Brandon Inniss on the last play of the first half helped the journey to covering, too.

Overall, head Buckeye Ryan Day, who won his 84^th game to surpass Urban Meyer into fourth place on Ohio State’s career victory list, didn’t push every correct button. His and Arthur Smith’s offense left some points on the field in the red zone. But winning always feels better even when it’s against Kent State, a program not synonymous with even MAC success.

“We were looking for a response,” Day said. “Regardless of the opponent, you want clean execution on offense, and you want running and hitting on defense, energy and passion, which I thought we did.”

Texas, while the way it happened with a blown 20-point lead was unacceptable, is the level of program you lose to sometimes. But not the state schools whose first name isn’t the name of a state. That’s a walkover Saturday.

Because like any MAC school that wins, the people who make it happen climb the ladder, leaving the program to rebuild. The Golden Flashes have been rebuilding since their only MAC title in 1972.

Head coach Don James left Ohio and built a west coast power at Washington. Linebacker Jack Lambert became a Hall of Famer with the Steelers. And Nick Saban, a player on that team, became a head coach of some renown.

Otherwise, what you saw try to hang with the Buckeyes is what you usually get from programs like Kent State in the Horseshoe. No room to run the football, not much time to throw it, and defenseless against an offense full of skill players Kent doesn’t even bother to offer scholarships.

This wasn’t Western Michigan a second short of beating Michigan. Not even close. Not with players like wide receiver Jeremiah Smith on the turf.

As the Buckeyes were driving for first-quarter touchdowns like they were playing the scout team, all eyes were on Smith’s continued drive toward Ohio State immortality and being remembered as the standard.

Smith drew first blood on his assault of Ohio State’s triple crown of receiving records, each owned by a different player. He entered the game 26 yards shy of breaking Michael Jenkins’ career yardage record of 2,898 yards. His first catch went for 13 yards on the game’s first touchdown drive. He set the record with a 22-yard catch on the second touchdown drive to the Kent 22.

“Means a lot,” Smith said. “Put a lot of hard work into it. I’m blessed, but I have two more to get.”

Smith also entered the game needing 27 catches to surpass Emeka Egbuka’s career record of 205 and six touchdowns to surpass Chris Olave’s record of 35.

“It’s hard to put anybody above him,” Day said when asked if Smith is the best receiver to play at Ohio State. “Thirty-three games to break the all-time leading receiving record at Ohio State, I think that speaks more than anything to just him, his mindset, his discipline, what he does every day.”

After Saturday’s line of five catches, 85 yards and no touchdowns, Smith sits at 184 catches for 2,958 yards and 30 touchdowns. Kent’s lack of competitiveness cost him a chance to tie the school record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games. He didn’t play in the second half and could have auctioned his helmet at halftime for a good cause.

“If you have the mindset and work ethic and the drive he does,” Inniss said, “you see what you can do along with the physical traits.”

Smith and Sayin also hooked up on a show-off connection on the third touchdown drive, highlighting Sayin’s elite ball placement ability. He showed his guy was better than their three guys, throwing just high enough as Smith turned to the sideline. Smith leaped and two-handed the ball with his make-it-look-easy ability for a 20-yard catch to the Kent 12.

Soon the score was 20-0 on Isaiah West’s four-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds left in the first quarter. With the extra point pending, this 20-point lead was destined to be more than enough.

Ohio State’s first four first-half touchdowns went to Ja’Kobi Jackson (11-yard run), Nate Roberts (six-yard catch), West, and Bo Jackson (one-yard run). Then the offense ran into red zone trouble in the second quarter against a team that it shouldn’t.

The Buckeyes led 28-0 and faced fourth-and-five at the Kent eight and went for the first down. Sayin, however, was sacked – Inniss was wide open in the middle of the end zone – for one of the few memorable plays for Kent, providing a lasting memory for lineman Aiden Burgess, a sophomore from Maryland.

However, that was mostly it for the Golden Flashes, who weren’t flashy. Superman lycra did not exist underneath the Kent persona. Well, there was one more super memory late in the first half.

Quarterback Dru DeShields pitched to wide receiver Da’Realyst Clark for an apparent reverse run. But Clark stopped and threw a 29-yard completion to Wayne Harris to the Ohio State 21. But that’s as real as it got for the Flashes’ offense. They went for a first down on fourth-and-four at the 15, thumbing their noses at a chance to avoid the shutout. DeShields threw to Harris at the goal line, but Jermaine Mathews dove and broke up the play.

The Buckeyes had 20 seconds left, and Day wanted his team to continue to fight after the previous two uneven possessions that didn’t yield points. Sayin completed passes to Roberts and Smith to midfield and had time for a final play. Sayin launched a Hail Mary to the end zone and Inniss made the catch for a 35-0 lead.

“The secret is just to have guys in the right spot,” Inniss said. “We practice that on Sundays and Fridays. Have guys in the right spot. Guy in the front, guy in the back, guy in the middle, and then execute your job.”

The running game had good execution moments, but what does it mean against Kent State? The best takeaway is that the backs ran hard, showed good vision and found the end zone four times. Bo Jackson carried 11 times for 73 yards and Ja’Kobi Jackson carried eight times for 47 yards to lead a 145-yard team effort.

While Day liked the response and passion in his players, the fans were lukewarm to the day. They began dispersing at halftime and a smattering remained for the fourth quarter. Too bad, because they missed the most exciting plays of the half by the young Bucks.

Henry Jr., presumed to be Ohio State’s next great receiver, caught a short pass from Luke Fahey, turned up field, made one man miss and outran the Flashes for a 75-yard touchdown and a 49-0 lead.

Henry’s score was one example of spreading the ball around to 10 receivers. Sayin (18 of 22, 241 yards) opened the game by throwing twice to Inniss, who caught four passes for 78 yards. Smith was an example of pulling for your teammates with his reactions to Inniss’ and Henry’s touchdowns.

“I’m always supporting the guys in my room and everybody on the team,” he said. “I’m a leader and a captain of this team, so I always have to encourage the guys and get people going.”

The defense mostly stuffed runs and covered receivers. Linebacker Riley Pettyjohn made a good play on a pass and intercepted DeShields in the second quarter. But not until Perez, a 6-foot-3, 349-pound defensive tackle from Cleveland Glenville, picked up a backfield fumble caused by freshman linebacker Braxton Rembert and rumbled to an 11-yard fat-man touchdown, did the defense make a signature play, much to the delight of everyone left in the stadium (much less than half the original crowd) for a 56-0 lead. And they got to see Perez’s TD dance for maybe the only time.

“Is he the heaviest guy to ever score in Ohio State history? He might be,” Day said. “But seriously, the whole sideline just going out on the field and celebrating as a team, you saw some of that today, and we have to do that. We have to celebrate as brothers, and when you get excited for someone else’s accomplishments, almost more than yourself, then we have something going.”

The young players got their chances to shine, which is what these games are about. One who didn’t is the intriguing Legend Bey who wowed with a touchdown catch and run against Ball State. But he tweaked an ankle on his only carry for no gain and didn’t get cleared to return.

Defensive lineman Khary Wilder didn’t play as much as expected. But Day explained that Wilder is a first-teamer in the third-down pass rush package and a backup in other packages. There just weren’t that many opportunities for Wilder in this game.

At the end of the third quarter, the team surrounded Day for a pep talk.

“We know how important these fourth quarters are going to be, and it doesn’t matter what the score is, it doesn’t matter what the game is, or who the opponent is, we just have to make sure that everybody rebites, refocuses, and finishes in the fourth quarter,” Day said. “That’s something I’m going to continue to hammer with these guys because it’s about the team, it’s about our tribe, it’s about us coming together, playing for each other, and what do you want to sacrifice for your teammate.”

In an ironic twist, TBDBITL performed a Southwest-themed show at halftime titled “Wanted: Dead or Alive” with Brutus wearing a 50-gallon cowboy hat.

Imagine how this past week would have been different – and how this game might have been played with less urgency – if the football team had cowboyed up in the fourth quarter in Texas.