'We knew we had to turn this up': Ohio State football wins big, looks ahead to Notre Dame

After two sluggish victories to open the season, Ohio State wanted to head into next week's showdown at Notre Dame with a dominating performance against Western Kentucky.

The Buckeyes did just that.

Their offense was explosive and their defense made big plays and limited the Hilltoppers' high-octane offense in a 63-10 win in front of 100,217 at Ohio Stadium.

No one was satisfied with how the Buckeyes played the first two games. As a result, coach Ryan Day ramped up the intensity at practice this week.

"We had a few people come to practice and they said, 'Boy, that was as physical a practice as I've seen in a long time,' " Day said. "We knew we had to turn this up, and we need to build some momentum going into next week. I think you saw our play like that today, and that's what it's got to be moving forward."

Ohio State football: Kyle McCord handles early adversity well in Ohio State football's rout of Western Kentucky

In his first game since being named the full-fledged No. 1 quarterback, Kyle McCord was nearly flawless. He completed 19 of 23 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

Against Indiana and Youngstown State, Ohio State's offense bordered on plodding. The Buckeyes made up for it against Western Kentucky (2-1).

Ohio State needed eight and 12 plays to score its first two touchdowns, which TreVeyon Henderson capped with runs of 21 and 7 yards. The Buckeyes' last four touchdowns of the first half came in an 8-minute flurry that buried whatever upset hopes the 30-point-underdog Hilltoppers might have had.

After Western Kentucky scored its lone first-half touchdown to make it 21-10 with 8:10 left in the second quarter, McCord connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. on OSU's next snap for a 75-yard touchdown.

After a fourth-down stop by its defense, Ohio State scored on the next play when Chip Trayanum ran 40 yards.

The Buckeyes' defense then forced a fumble, and Ohio State took advantage with a four-play drive that ended with McCord throwing to Emeka Egbuka for a 15-yard score to make it 35-10.

Ohio State football: Ohio State realizes need for speed, fuels big win against Western Kentucky

OSU wasn't done. The Buckeyes took over at its own 42-yard line with 28 seconds left after stopping WKU on downs. McCord threw to tight end Cade Stover for a 40-yard gain and then threw to Egbuka for a 14-yard touchdown with 8 seconds left to render the second half a formality.

McCord completed 13 of 15 passes for 271 yards in the first half. The only time the Buckeyes' offense didn't score a touchdown in the first two quarters came when McCord was stripped of the ball on OSU's second possession. Ohio State gained 294 yards in the second quarter alone.

"I feel like we've always had that in the tank," Egbuka said. "It just comes down to effort and execution. When we don't put points on the board, it's probably something we did. It's probably not something the defense did. It's probably lack of execution on our part because we believe we have the best offense and the best players in the country."

As impressive as the offense was, the Buckeyes were expected to move the ball against a porous Hilltoppers defense. The real challenge in this game was for the OSU defense.

WKU quarterback Austin Reed led the country in passing yards last year and showed Saturday that was no fluke. He has a quick release and sees the field well, limiting OSU's opportunities for sacks.

But Buckeyes pass-rushers did pressure him, and their defensive backs did a good job of breaking up passes or limiting yards after catches. Reed completed 21 of 37 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown.

More importantly, the Buckeyes also created the havoc that was mostly missing in their first two games. They forced four turnovers, two for scores. Cornerback Denzel Burke forced a fumble recovered in the end zone by Tyleik Williams for a third-quarter touchdown. Freshman cornerback Jermaine Mathews capped the scoring with a 42-yard interception on a pass thrown by backup Bronson Barron.

"Obviously in the second half, the turnovers were huge," Day said. "I thought they hung in there (in the first half). When they were getting stops at the end of the first half and getting the ball back to the offense, they kind of fed off of that. We had some really good momentum going, good passion, a bunch of guys playing fast and violent."

Devin Brown replaced McCord late in the third quarter. Brown threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate for the promising freshman receiver's first career score.

"We needed to take the next step," Day said. "We know what we're about to jump into here in the middle of the season."

Notre Dame awaits, and the Buckeyes head to South Bend feeling much better about themselves.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football wins big, looks ahead to Notre Dame