Running back Bo Jackson (25) bursts through a gap en route to his team-leading 112 rushing yards. Photo Credit: Liam Ahern | Sports Photo Editor
Asked at his weekly media availability about Ohio State’s place atop the newest College Football Playoff rankings, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day shifted his expression from impassive to stern.
He didn’t want to hear about it.
Day insisted the Buckeyes had “done nothing” at this point in the season and said they would need to “be good” every week if they wanted to repeat as national champions for the first time in school history.
Under the lights of Ohio Stadium, where the 61-degree air made the season’s final night game feel more like early September, the Buckeyes were indeed “good.”
Ohio State flexed its No. 1-ranked pedigree to overwhelm an outmatched UCLA team 48-10 Saturday, moving its record to 10-0. The game let the Buckeyes smooth out some remaining wrinkles before a trip to Ann Arbor in two weeks and its likely postseason run.
“It was certainly not perfect, but that’s what we need to get to because the precision and execution that needs to happen over the next couple weeks is going to be very important,” Day said.
The Buckeyes followed a familiar script, employing a suffocating defense paired with an offense that utilizes explosive plays and chunk ones to string together methodical drives. But the way they executed it looked different.
With Carnell Tate sidelined for the second straight week for precautionary reasons and Jeremiah Smith limited after entering the game questionable with what Day called a “nagging issue,” Ohio State leaned on its ground game and it responded.
The Buckeyes followed up last week’s 170-yard outing at Purdue by piling up 218 rushing yards, surpassing 200 yards in conference play for the first time this season.
The freshman tandem of Bo Jackson and Isiah West accounted for 173 of those yards, and James Peoples added two touchdowns, including a crowd-pleasing hurdle of a UCLA defender.
“I think they’re growing each week,” quarterback Julian Sayin said. “They all ran really hard and did a really good job.”
Jackson in particular showcased his explosiveness throughout the night, highlighted by a 32-yard second-quarter burst. He patiently waited for a crease and then exploded into the second level to set up an 11-yard Bryson Rodgers touchdown that pushed the lead to 17-0.
While the Buckeyes ran with ease, their normally dynamic passing attack took a backseat. Sayin finished 23 of 31 for 184 yards and a touchdown. His eight incompletions marked his highest total in a game this season.
If fans missed the thrill of a signature Sayin deep shot–his longest completion traveled only 21 yards–the Buckeyes’ special teams unit provided the jolt that brought the scarlet-clad crowd to its feet.
First, a botched punt from UCLA’s Will Karoll ricocheted off Caden Curry, who pounced on the loose ball at the Bruins’ 14-yard line to set up a Jayden Fielding field goal that stretched the halftime margin to 27-0.
After UCLA pieced together its lone touchdown drive of the night with a five-play, 75-yard march that made it 27-7 early in the third quarter, the Buckeyes struck back instantly. Lorenzo Styles Jr. gathered the ensuing kickoff, found a crease and outran the entire Bruins coverage unit for a 100-yard house call, the Buckeyes’ first kickoff return touchdown since 2010.
“We put that return in this week,” Day said. “Lorenzo said, ‘Once I took it out, I knew I had a return for a touchdown, so I better get running.’”
Lest no one forget the defense, which was once again overwhelming, this time against a UCLA team whose starting quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, was out with a concussion.
The line had no sacks but generated steady pressure on quarterback Luke Duncan, making his first college start an uncomfortable one. The Bruins struggled to move the ball with any rhythm, and Ohio State forced UCLA to play behind the chains most of the night.
“It doesn’t really matter who our opponent is; we got to go dominate them,” Styles Jr. said. “Having their starting quarterback out, that’s tough for them, but for us, we have to do our job.”
For the Buckeyes, it was business as usual, and if this performance was the Buckeyes simply being “good,” it served as a reminder of something larger. Good for Ohio State still looks like dominance against every team they have so far faced.
