TreVeyon Henderson of the Ohio State Buckeyes shakes off Landyn Watson of the Marshall Thundering Herd at Ohio Stadium on September 21, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
COLUMBUS — On a blistering afternoon inside Ohio Stadium, with temperatures rising above 90 degrees, nothing was hotter than the Ohio State running back tandem of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
The dynamic duo torched the Marshall Thundering Herd for a combined 249 yards and four touchdowns on just 20 carries to lead the third-ranked Buckeyes to a 49-14 win to close out the non-conference slate.
Judkins eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second time in as many games, finishing with 173 yards on nine carries to go along with two touchdowns.
Ohio State had no trouble moving the ball through the air either, and quarterback Will Howard finished 16 of 20 for 275 yards and a pair of touchdowns along with one interception. The Buckeyes outgained Marshall 569-264 in total offense.
“I thought (offensive coordinator) Chip (Kelly) again called a good game across the board,” Day said of his offense after the game. “There are bigger challenges ahead heading into conference play, but that identity is starting to build. And that running game is starting to build an identity and some confidence up front, which was needed.”
While the final stat sheet proved to be lopsided, it wasn’t indicative of how well the Marshall offense played in the first half against the vaunted Ohio State defense that came into the game having not allowed a touchdown through two games.
Marshall received the opening kickoff and promptly marched 75 yards in 13 plays to deliver an early blow to Ohio State. Ethan Payne’s touchdown run from a yard out capped the drive to claim a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Quarterback Stone Earle kept the drive alive twice with a pair of third-down completions, including a 16-yard bullet to Bralon Brown to move into Ohio State territory.
In addition to being the first touchdown allowed by Ohio State this season, it was also the first time an opponent had been inside the red zone against them.
However, Marshall’s lead was short-lived as Howard and the Buckeye offense answered back in a hurry. Just two plays into the ensuing drive, Emeka Egbuka took a short pass from Howard and raced 68 yards untouched to the end zone to draw Ohio State even.
Egbuka led all receivers with 117 yards on five catches along with the touchdown.
Howard’s rushing touchdown from a yard out gave Ohio State its first lead of the day early in the second quarter, and the Buckeyes began to pull away. Following a quick punt on the ensuing Marshall drive, lighting struck again for Ohio State in the form of Judkins.
After taking over at its own 14 to begin the drive, Ohio State handed the ball to Judkins on the first play of the possession. Judkins knifed his way into the Marshall secondary and outran a host of defenders 86 yards to the end zone for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
The run was the longest of Judkins’ career and tied for the third-longest touchdown run in Ohio State history.
Asked what was going through his mind with nothing but green grass in front of him, Judkins said simply, “Score.”
“It definitely felt pretty good,” Judkins said of breaking off the long run. “I even turned around a little bit to see if there were any flags on the play. I was super excited.”
Henderson’s 14-yard touchdown run stretched the lead to 28-7 late in the half, and it appeared Ohio State had blown the game open. However, Marshall refused to lay down, and the Herd continued to find success moving the ball late in the quarter.
With three minutes remaining, Marshall took over at its own 35 and was into Ohio State territory in four plays.
Earle’s 10-yard completion to Elijah Metcalf on 4th and 4 from the Ohio State 37 kept Marshall drive’s alive, and a roughing the passer penalty on Ohio State’s Caden Curry added to the damage at the end of the play. Curry was ejected for targeting on the roughing penalty following a review by the officials.
Back in the red zone for the second time in the half following the penalty, Earle again connected with Metcalf, this time for a 13-yard touchdown to cut Ohio State’s lead to 28-14 heading into halftime.
Earle was 16 of 21 for 132 yards and the touchdown before being forced out of the game in the third quarter with an apparent injury.
It was a tale of two sides of the ball for Ohio State in the first half. The Buckeye offense wracked up 307 yards, but Marshall’s 203 yards in the first half equaled more than Ohio State had given up in the first halves of its first two games combined.
The early defensive miscues mattered little to the outcome though as Ohio State took the opening possession of the second half and put the game away on Henderson’s second touchdown run of the day. The run covered 40 yards and pushed Ohio State’s lead to 35-14 just three minutes into the third quarter.
As the Ohio State offense continued to roll, its defense finally settled in, limiting Marshall to just 61 yards in the second half.
Jeremiah Smith, who had been held in check for much of the game, finally broke through late in the third with a 53-yard touchdown from Howard to blow the game open. Smith finished with three catches for 70 yards to go along with the touchdown, his fourth of the year.
Judkins rounded out the scoring early in the fourth on a 6-yard touchdown run, his second of the game, as Ohio State cruised to the win.
“We’re not going to take any win for granted,” Day said of the win. “As you see across the country, everyone takes these wins for granted, but there’s a lot of work that gets put into them, and our guys played hard out there today. The effort is there and the guys are playing hard, so we have to keep building on that.”
Ohio State travels to Michigan State next Saturday for both teams’ Big Ten opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.
Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.
