No. 3 Ohio State opened Big Ten play last night in East Lansing with a 38-7 win over Michigan State, with Ryan Day becoming the second-fastest OSU head coach to reach 60 wins (60-8).

The win improved the Buckeyes to 4-0 on the young season.

Things were a bit difficult early on as Ohio State’s defense put up some strong attacks and allowed Michigan State to continually push into OSU territory, but big attacks from the defense largely kept the Spartans off the scoreboard before the Silver Bullets became more and more dominant as the game progressed.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw for 244 yards with a touchdown and an interception that gave the Spartans only points, while also adding a rushing touchdown to cap the score. Through the air, Howard connected with Emeka Egbuka seven times for 96 yards and a touchdown, but the story in the receiving corps was all-world freshman Jeremiah Smith. The Manchild reached the end zone twice – giving him five touchdowns in four games – and recorded two elite catches.

The win provided plenty to celebrate and gave the coaches plenty of time to further their progress before the Buckeyes host Iowa next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Ohio Stadium.

Before we turn the focus to the Hawkeyes, here are five things to take from yesterday’s 31-point win in East Lansing.

JEREMIAH SMITH IS HE

Jeremiah Smith played on the road for the first time in the B1G and shone on the big stage with six touchdowns for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

All six catches went for either first downs or a touchdown – with two grabs in particular showcasing his elite ball skills – while his lone rush also reached the end zone.

A chain-mover, 6-yard snag on 3rd-and-5 set up Ohio State’s first touchdown and took a 10-0 lead on a catch by Gee Scott Jr., but Smith was just about to break away to warm up.

With Ohio State holding a narrow 10-7 lead, Smith began the possession with a 20-yard catch from Will Howard. Three plays later, he capped the 75-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown drive on a nifty end-around play set up by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. The breakout gave the Buckeyes a 17-7 lead with 7:22 left in the second quarter.

Jeremiah Smith scores his fifth touchdown in four games for the Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/jFBDK0rSWJ

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 29, 2024

Two possessions later, 1:13 left in the half, Smith had another touchdown drive. On 1st-and-10 from the Spartans’ 44-yard line, Smith stormed up the right sideline and parried a jump ball with one hand between two defenders for a 27-yard gain.

I also can’t forget how crazy that Jeremiah Smith catch was. pic.twitter.com/VZ5gJiiCxz

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 29, 2024

Three plays later, Smith ran up the right sideline again, extended his paw for another one-handed grab and galloped into the end zone for a 17-yard score that gave OSU a 24-7 lead with 29 ticks remaining at halftime.

Jeremiah Smith is incredible. pic.twitter.com/puaxrnm2dP

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 29, 2024

This kid has played four college games and it is no exaggeration to say he is one of the top 5 receivers in college football at the moment. It might be a good idea to distribute a collection plate through the aisles of the shoe store. If all goes well, we have another 2.5 years of this madness ahead of us.

THE MIDDLE EIGHT

I already had this queued up as a thing and damn if Day hadn’t mentioned it several times in his postgame comments talking about how effective Ohio State was in the so-called “middle eight” – the final four minutes of the game first half and the first four minutes of the second half.

My account was more about the last two possessions of the first half and the first two of the second, where Ohio State turned a 17-7 game into a 31-7 cushion with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

Ohio State’s defense held on to a 17-7 lead with 1:48 left in the first half and saw JT Tuimoloau record a sack for a 6-yard loss on 2nd-and-5 and Caleb Downs record a short on third down -Throw blew up a 1-yard loss to force a punt. Michigan State helped the Buckeyes with a 27-yard strike that gave OSU the ball at its own 40-yard line with 1:13 left.

Quarterback Will Howard hit Carnell Tate for 16 yards and connected with Smith on the aforementioned freak show catch for 27 before Devin Brown replaced an injured Howard for one play and saw Smith complete his throw for a 17-yard highlight-reel touchdown on 3rd-and-10 to give Ohio State the 24-7 lead heading to the locker room.

The Silver Bullets took the field out of halftime and forced a quick punt with the power of a Ty Hamilton TFL for -4 yards and a near interception by Cody Simon on 3rd and 14 yards.

Ohio State’s offense launched its next attack with 12:06 left in the third quarter, marching 13 plays and 76 yards with 7:09 left to defeat the Spartans. The drive wasn’t great at times, but the Buckeyes converted on a 3rd-and-1 and two fourth downs. TreVeyon Henderson gained nine yards after recovering a fumbled snap, and Emeka Egbuka recorded two catches for 53 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown on fourth down, giving OSU the lead with 4:57 left in the quarter expanded to 31-7.

Game. Sentence. Match.

THE DOWNS DIFFERENCE

Alabama All-American transfer safety Caleb Downs played quite well in his first three games as a Buckeye, but was a next-level factor against the Spartans.

Downs protected Ohio State’s defensive line while showcasing his incredible ability to quickly diagnose plays and rush toward the line of scrimmage with not only blistering speed, but absolute body control. In about three quarters of the action, he made six tackles, including one for loss.

His famous overthrow on 3rd-and-11 to force the punt that set up the game-winning “Middle Eight” run was such an elite play. He did almost exactly the same thing on the first play of Michigan State’s next possession, which ended in a punt.

Day certainly felt that Downs had done the damned thing. “I thought Caleb played great tonight. … He was at his best tonight and made a big difference.”

Undoubtedly, his versatile skillset also encourages his teammates in the secondary, particularly safety Lathan Ransom, who is off to a solid start to the season, forcing a fumble last night to thwart a Spartans drive deep in OSU territory.

The defense tightens up after an awkward start

Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles saw his defense get off to a slow start for the second straight game, as Michigan State gained 186 yards on 6.9 yards per play in the first half.

Despite allowing six chunk plays – five catches for 15 to 26 yards and one rush for 19 yards – his defense dealt with two turnovers in the red zone and gave up a respectable seven points in the first 30 minutes. Those seven came on a short field after Will Howard’s interception brought MSU to the Buckeyes’ 12-yard line.

The big 3-and-out that set up Ohio State’s touchdown late in the first half served as the catalyst for a dominant performance in the third quarter, as the Silver Bullets allowed just 19 yards on 11 snaps. A Denzel Burke interception and return to the MSU 12-yard line late in the third quarter set up a 6-yard Will Howard touchdown, making it 38-7 for the Good.

In three quarters with the starters, Ohio State allowed 205 total yards, including just 38 rushing at 2.0 yards per carry, while committing three turnovers and one turnover on downs.

Eight of MSU’s 12 possessions covered 16 yards or less (although one was a 12-yard touchdown “drive” into double coverage after a Howard interception). Michigan State ran just two plays in OSU territory in the second half – the final two meaningless snaps of the game with less than a minute to play.

Ohio State initially failed to put much pressure on MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles, but ultimately recorded four sacks and two hurries while finishing the game on the ground.

A bigger issue is the ongoing gaps in linebacker play, particularly with Sonny Styles continuing the transition from safety. He again had trouble filling holes and finding the ball carrier quickly and was beaten on an early 26-yard gain. Jordan Hancock bailed him out on the play and forced a fumble that Sonny would pay attention to, but even the biggest homer needs to see some ways to improve his game right now, even though he leads OSU in tackles with 23 in four games.

PLAY RUN ANSWERS THE BELL

Even after beating Western Michigan for 273 rushing yards on 7 yards per carry and then overwhelming Marshall for 280 rushing yards on 9 yards per attempt, Ohio State’s running game had to show it was up to a much bigger challenge.

Against Michigan State’s 13th-ranked yards per carry defense (2.6) and 29th-ranked rushing defense (96.8 ypg), Justin Frye’s offensive line paved the way for 185 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per attempt with two touchdowns .

Taking out the fourth quarter numbers since they were generated by the reserves, the OSU run game yielded 156 yards at 6.2 per pop. TreVeyon Henderson led the attack with seven carries for 69 yards (9.9 YPC) and Quinshon Judkins had a more modest performance, going 11-for-54, giving the pair a combined 123 yards on 6.8 per attempt.

The line and perimeter blockers also paved the way for Jeremiah Smith’s 19-yard end-around touchdown run and a 6-yard QB draw for six.

I don’t think at the end of the season we’ll be talking about Michigan State’s top seven being the next to emerge from the Steel Curtain, but they represented a decent test for Ohio State’s group and you have to be okay with how The offensive line maintained its run game and in pass pro performance on the season with one sack and three TFL for eight yards over 75 snaps.