Ohio State Buries Ball State 56-3 Behind Sayin and Smith
Julian Sayin beat Jeremiah Smith by 0.3 Promethium points, 35.9 to 35.6, and I would call that a split decision if anyone had lost. Ohio State beat Ball State 56-3.
Smith caught a 48-yard touchdown from Sayin with 8:47 left in the first quarter, and Devin Mccuin added a 17-yarder before the quarter ended (14-0). Sayin ran in from three yards out early in the second for 21-0. Ball State's Brody Boehm answered with a 54-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the half, which turned out to be the visitors' entire offense on the scoreboard. Sayin then found Smith again from three yards with ten seconds left before the break. 28-3 at halftime.
The running backs took the third quarter. Bo Jackson broke a 65-yard touchdown run with 11:29 left, and Ja'Kobi Jackson followed with a 49-yarder with 8:20 left. That is two long runs in about three minutes of game clock, and it was 42-3. In the fourth, Luke Fahey threw 25 yards to Legend Bey (49-3), and Tavien St. Clair threw 15 yards to Chris Henry Jr. with 1:55 left for the last score. Three different Buckeye quarterbacks threw touchdowns.
The yardage was just as lopsided. Ohio State had 434 passing yards and 237 rushing yards, 671 total, on 35 rushing attempts. Ball State had 120 passing yards and 46 rushing yards, 166 total, on 22 attempts. Each team threw one interception. Sayin went 21 of 25 for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and also lost nine yards on the ground (three carries, one touchdown).
Ohio State is 1-0, Ball State 0-1. Mccuin finished with 21.7 points on six catches, which would be the headline on most days.