Kyle McCord threw for 258 yards and three first-half touchdowns, two of them to Marvin Harrison Jr., as No. 5 Ohio State downed Youngstown State 35-7 on Saturday at Columbus, Ohio.
Coming off a lackluster performance in a season-opening 23-3 win at Indiana, the Buckeyes (2-0) were looking for marked improvement against the overmatched Penguins (1-1) with an eye on a Sept. 23 matchup at No. 10 Notre Dame, not to mention Western Kentucky next Saturday.
McCord, who won the starting job over Devin Brown, was 14-of-20 passing, including 253 yards in the first half. The output came a week after going 20 of 33 for 239 yards with an interception and no TDs.
Harrison had a career-long 71-yard catch against Youngstown State to make it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game and his 39-yard TD catch put the Buckeyes ahead 14-7 late in the first quarter after Penguins quarterback Mitch Davidson tied it 7-7 on a 1-yard run.
Harrison’s productive day came after the All-American candidate had just two catches for 18 yards against Indiana. He made seven catches for 160 yards, all in the first half, against Youngstown State.
The Buckeyes held a 28-7 halftime lead, getting second-quarter scores from TreVeyon Henderson on a 13-yard run, and Emeka Egbuka’s 28-yard catch.
After gaining 380 total yards against Indiana, Ohio State had 339 in the first half vs. Youngstown State and finished with 482. The Penguins totaled 234.
Following Harrison’s first score, the Penguins methodically used 11 plays to go 75 yards for the tie but were unable to capitalize on their momentum.
Henderson extended the lead to 35-7 late in the third quarter on a 30-yard run with Brown taking the snaps at quarterback. Henderson had had 56 rushing yards on five carries.
The score was set up by Brown’s 20-yard strike to Carnell Tate on the previous play.
Davidson was 12-of-18 passing for 98 yards and Tyshon King led the Penguins with 66 yards on 12 rushes.
— Field Level Media