COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s offense didn’t have much of a problem doing practically whatever it wanted against Marshall in a 49-14 win.
The Buckeyes put up points in every way imaginable. They had quick explosive drives, drives where they wore on the Thundering Herds defense and did it with balance throwing for 289 yards and running for another 280.
Every week the offense tasks another positive step and this one came while being at full strength for the first time all season. Donovan Jackson made his season debut helping an offensive line that was already taking stripes with a PFF grade of 86.6, the highest of his career.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was still dominant and its quarterback’s performance best illustrates that. Will Howard posted a Pro Football Focus grade of 63.8 to go along with his 275 yards abd two touchdowns on 16 of 20 passing. Of his four incompletions, one was an interception and two others showed that chemistry is still being built between him and the tight end room.
Here’s how the rest of the offense graded:
(PFF grades every player on every play and uses a scale of 0-100, with higher grades indicating better play. PFF has explained its grades this way: 100-90 elite; 89-85 Pro Bowler; 84-70 starter; 69-60 backup; 59-0 replaceable. In other words, it’s similar to how we would match up percentages with traditional letter grades in school.)
NOTE: Snap counts in parentheses.
QUARTERBACK
Will Howard: 63.8 (45)
Devin Brown: 62.1 (13)
RUNNING BACKS
TreVeyon Henderson: 85.3 (20)
Quinshon Judkins: 79.7 (27)
James Peoples: 63.1 (13)
Sam Williams-Dixon: 57.7 (3)
WIDE RECEIVER
Emeka Egbuka: 77.6 (26)
Carnell Tate: 71.8 (35)
David Adolph: 68.8 (8)
Jeremiah Smith: 63.1 (32)
Brandon Inniss: 55.3 (17)
Kojo Antwi: 54.9 (8)
Bryson Rodgers: 49.4 (15)
Jayden Ballard: 38.8 (5)
TIGHT END
Will Kacmarek: 62.4 (25)
Jelani Thurman: 54.5 (20)
Patrick Gurd: 54.0 (9)
Bennett Christian: 53.6 (12)
Gee Scott Jr.: 44.9 (18)
OFFENSIVE LINE
Donovan Jackson: 86.6 (45)
George Fitzpatrick: 86.3 (13)
Zen Michalski: 84.5 (13)
Josh Simmons: 75.4 (45)
Luke Montgomery: 73.6 (13)
Austin Siereveld: 72.2 (26)
Seth McLaughlin: 66.3 (45)
Carson Hiznman: 61.4 (13)
Tegra Tshabola: 58.7 (32)
Josh Fryar: 52.6 (45)
