Ohio State football: 3 takeaways from win vs. Arkansas State
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team was able to do what a few other top-ten teams were not able to do; avoid an upset. The Buckeyes trounced Arkansas State 45-12 in a game that was never really close. Other teams around the country weren’t able to take care of business.
Even though this was a game the Buckeyes expected to win, it was the second straight game in which they failed to cover the spread. Ohio State was a 44.5-point favorite and wasn’t able to cover. I didn’t think they were going to either, but that’s still something of note.
There are three things from this game that we can take away from this game that should tell us more about how the rest of the season is going to unfold. The Buckeyes may have played a weaker team, but there are always things we can learn about their play.
The first thing we can take away from their performance on Saturday afternoon is how good the offense still can be.
The Ohio State football team still has an elite offense
For the second straight game, the Ohio State football team had to play without Jaxon Smith-Njigba. JSN only played a few series in the first quarter against Notre Dame. He was held out of action against Arkansas State. It didn’t really matter because the Buckeyes were still dominant.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is a star in the making. For the second time in his first three career starts, he recorded three touchdown catches. He was magnificent all day long and showed why the Buckeyes are so high on his potential. Emeka Egbuka was also really good for the second straight week.
This game showed us that C.J. Stroud can be great even without his best weapon. He threw 4 touchdown passes and has still yet to turn the ball over this season. He put himself right back in the Heisman race with his solid performance.
If the Buckeyes can play this good on offense without their best weapon, they become an even harder team to beat. I do think Ryan Day needs to run the ball more though. They only had 22 carries from running backs in this game. They’ll need more against better opponents.
The second takeaway has to do with the defense.