McCord stakes claim to Ohio State quarterback job in 35-7 win over Youngstown State

When Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr. were teammates at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia, they expected to have college games like Saturday's.

Sure, the opponent in those visions probably wasn't Youngstown State, a plucky-but-overmatched opponent that No. 5 Ohio State defeated 35-7 in the Buckeyes' home opener in front of 102,897 spectators at Ohio Stadium.

But with bigger tests awaiting, Saturday's performance was significant nonetheless.

Touted as a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Harrison had a quiet opener last week at Indiana. He caught only two passes for 18 yards, both in the first quarter.

McCord took a step toward solidifying his status as starting quarterback last week. He all but cemented it Saturday. McCord threw touchdown passes of 71 and 39 yards to Harrison in the first quarter for Ohio State's first two scores.

“That was my first touchdown to Marvin in college, so it was cool to finally see it come all the way from when we first started playing with each other our sophomore year in high school,” McCord said. “It's been a long time coming. I just (want to) continue to use that momentum and that experience and grow, and we can create more of those.”

McCord finished with 258 passing yards and three touchdowns. He completed 14 of 20 passes.

After the game, Ohio State coach Ryan Day declined to name McCord as the winner of the quarterback competition between the junior and redshirt freshman Devin Brown, but that day feels imminent.

“We'll look at it over this weekend and try to see if he's taken that step,” Day said.

McCord played six of the first seven Buckeye possessions. McCord played eight of 10 possessions last week.

“I think early in games like this, how you play matters,” Day said. “I like how he came out of the gates playing well. (The Penguins are) fresh. They're playing their best football in that first quarter. You want to see us playing good football, and he made some nice throws early on. He got himself into a rhythm and showed that he can make some of those throws, and that's important.

“We'll look at the film and see, but I thought Kyle came out pretty efficiently overall, and Devin made some plays as well.”

Brown played one possession in the first half. He completed 2 of 6 passes for 21 yards on a 13-play, 60-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter.

“I thought Devin early on was a little anxious,” Day said. “But I think for him, once he gets hit and gets a little tired, he calms down a little bit. You can see the talent there.”

It was clear Ohio State (2-0) wanted to get Harrison the ball early and often. On the game's first possession, OSU faced a third-and-5 from its 29-yard line. Harrison was left in man-to-man coverage and easily beat his defender down the left sideline. He caught McCord's pass in stride and ran unthreatened for the touchdown.

Youngstown State (1-1), a 44-point underdog by oddsmakers even willing to post a point spread, answered with an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive. The Penguins completed a 36-yard pass on third down to keep the possession alive and scored on a 1-yard keeper by quarterback Mitch Davidson.

Youngstown State wouldn't get past the Ohio State 32-yard line the rest of the game.

Ohio State regained the lead for good after the teams exchanged punts. McCord threw a 24-yard pass to Emeka Egbuka to the Youngstown State 39-yard line and then threw a dart to Harrison in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.

Harrison finished with seven catches for 160 yards.

Brown then led the Buckeyes' next touchdown drive. He moved out of the pocket to find tight end Gee Scott Jr. for a fourth-down conversion. TreVeyon Henderson finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run.

McCord returned on Ohio State's ensuing possession and led an 89-yard touchdown drive capped by a 28-yard pass to Egbuka to give Ohio State a 28-7 lead.

McCord played one series in the third quarter – a three-and-out – before Brown returned to lead OSU to a fifth touchdown. He threw a nice 20-yarder to freshman Carnell Tate before Henderson scored on a 30-yard run.

Ohio State's defense got its first turnover of the season when Denzel Burke intercepted a pass in the end zone in the third quarter. It was the first interception by an OSU cornerback since October 2021.

Brown finished with 101 yards on 7-of-13 passing.

“I missed some throws that I would definitely like to have back,” he said. “But I didn't have any reads that I felt were wrong or anything like that. No mental mistakes.”

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kyle McCord, Marvin Harrison Jr. combo click in Ohio State win