What We Learned From Ohio State’s 56-3 Win Over Ball State

Jim Tressel is finally in the Ring of Honor, and former Ironton standouts Tyler Whaley and Marcus Williams were among the past Buckeyes on the field to honor the great Sweater Vest, whose placard now hangs in Ohio Stadium next to Woody Hayes.

Maurice Clarett rang the Victory Bell. Buckeye seniors took a bow. The alumni band marched and played. Ohio State dropped 28 points on Ball State in the first half of an eventual 56-3 drubbing. Ryan Day also matched Urban Meyer with 83 wins as Ohio State’s head coach, tying the next two Ring of Honor inductees for fourth on the program’s all-time list.

Those are the things we already knew were going to happen in the first game of Ohio State’s 137th season.

Some other things were no surprise. Jeremiah Smith put on a clinic, pulling in two Julian Sayin passes for touchdowns and amassing 151 receiving yards on eight catches.

Sayin started the game with two incompletions but finished 21 of 25 for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a little more than two quarters.

The biggest shocker, and I sure hope we see more of this in the future, is that Sayin ran for a score. I repeat: Sayin RAN for a score.

Smith, Sayin, the Jackson Two (Bo and Ja’Kobi, who each rushed for 83 yards and scored on long touchdown runs in the third quarter), wideout Devin McCuin, who finished with six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, and a stingy defense controlled this contest.

The second half was the most interesting part of the game. Young backups saw time on the field and gave us a peek at the future. For some of them, that future is very near.

Freshman wideout Chris Henry Jr. dropped some passes, including one that would have been a touchdown and another that bounced out of his hands and became an interception. But he shook it off and scored the final touchdown of the game.

Freshman running back Legend Bey, who also returns kickoffs, took his only two kicks out of the end zone despite being advised by veteran Brandon Inniss to stay put. Day was obviously frustrated by those decisions. But, like Henry, Bey shook off the early-game jitters. He rushed for 37 yards and added another 37 receiving, including a catch he took to the house.

Freshman Luke Fahey took over for Sayin in the third quarter, completing five of six passes and tossing the swing pass that Bey turned into a touchdown. In a sense, he completed all six. His lone blemish was the pass Henry bobbled before it was intercepted.

Sophomore Tavien St. Clair, touted in the offseason as Sayin’s backup, ceded the first reserve snaps to Fahey, signaling that Day is allowing his backups to compete for position on the depth chart. Like Fahey, St. Clair completed five of six passes. He also found the end zone when Henry scored to cap the game.

Freshman wideout Brock Boyd, whom teammates call “White Lightning,” looked impressive in limited action.

Sophomore running back Isaiah West saw limited action in the first half behind the Jackson Two, but don’t sleep on last year’s late bloomer.

This running back room is stacked with talent. I don’t see an Ezekiel Elliott in there, at least not yet, but there is serious depth.

Sophomore linebacker Riley Pettijohn led the Buckeyes with six total tackles, followed by fellow sophomore linebacker TJ Alford, who had five tackles and an interception.

The defense is hard to gauge with the eye test because it wasn’t truly tested in this game. Using last year as my guide, I’ll trust Matt Patricia. For what it’s worth, Ball State gained 165 yards and never reached the red zone, much less the end zone.

We’ll find out more next week in Austin against a Texas team carrying both a Jack Sawyer-inspired vendetta and the memory of last year’s loss in Columbus, while Sawyer rooted for Patricia’s restocked defense from the sidelines.

Odds and Ends: Since 2000, Ohio State leads the nation with 285 wins. Alabama is second with 271. The Buckeyes have produced 99 first-round selections in the NFL Draft, the most all-time, and 20 of those picks have come during Ryan Day’s tenure.

Remember when people wanted to run him out of town after losing to Connor Stalions University in 2024? That sentiment changed quickly after he won a natty.

The Shoe is the third-largest stadium in America, and it’s always full on game days, because…

O-H!