Halftime Analysis: Ohio State Racing Away From Akron
The first half went largely as expected after the first couple drives left Buckeye fans frustrated. Akron scored the game's first touchdown on its second drive and Ohio Stadium groaning.
Thankfully, after a bad opening sequence from an understandably adrenaline-filled Kyle McCord, the Buckeyes offense looked essentially unstoppable the rest of the half. TreVeyon Henderson and Garrett Wilson each looked fantastic in the first half.
I thought McCord settled in nicely. He was pressing a bit in the first drive, which is not terribly surprising. But after getting the ball in the hands of a couple of his best skill players gave him a lead, McCord threw a nice TD pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
After a 2-for-5 start, McCord finished the half 11-of-15 passing for 229 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, after a poor opening sequence, the Buckeyes thoroughly dominated Akron at the line of scrimmage. D.J. Irons was running for his life, having been sacked four times and chased out of the pocket at least twice as many times.
All four sacks came from interior linemen - Haskell Garrett had two, while Jerron Cage and Antwuan Jackson each had one.
The Buckeyes also had two interceptions in the first half. Ronnie Hickman brought his back for a touchdown, while Cody Simon nearly did.
Beyond that, I thought linebacking play was much better so far today, with Teradja Mitchell, Simon, Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers all playing nicely.
-----
Be sure to check out our new message boards, Buckeye Forums. We'd love to have you part of the conversation during the season.
-----
You may also like:
Freshman Quarterback Kyle McCord Will Start vs. Akron
Confident Denzel Burke Making Impact In Ohio State’s Secondary As True Freshman
Former Ohio State QB Justin Fields To Start For Bears Against Browns
Ohio State LB Dallas Gant Enters Name Into Transfer Portal
-----
Be sure to stay locked into BuckeyesNow all the time!
Join the BuckeyesNow community!
Subscribe to the BuckeyesNow YouTube channel
Follow Brendan on Twitter: @BrendanGulick22
Follow BuckeyesNow on Twitter: @BuckeyesNowSI
Like and follow BuckeyesNow on Facebook
