COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jeremiah Smith had two highlight reel-worthy touchdown catches, Julian Sayin passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and top-ranked Ohio State tuned up for next week's matchup against No. 5 Texas with a 56-3 rout of Ball State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (1-0) went three-and-out on their opening drive before finding the end zone on eight of their next 11 possessions.
Coach Ryan Day gave his team “about 15 minutes” to savor the victory, knowing the stakes are bigger next weekend.
“There’ll be times (during the season) we enjoy this through the night and then wake up tomorrow and move on to the next opponent," he said. “Not this one. The minute we leave the locker room, it’s on to Texas.”
Smith had eight receptions for 151 yards, all in the first half. He started Ohio State's scoring with a 48-yard, one-handed, over-the-shoulder grab in the end zone off a play-action pass by Sayin. He extended the Buckeyes' advantage to 28-3 with 10 seconds left in the first half with a 3-yard catch in the back of the end zone.
Sayin completed 21 of 25 passes before coming out midway through the third quarter. He also had the first rushing score of his career on a 3-yard run up the middle on fourth-and-goal to make it 21-0 three minutes into the second quarter.
“It was a fun game. We did some good things offensively, but like Coach (Day) always says, the issues are always going to be there,” Sayin said. “We've got to get on the film and see what we made mistakes on, and see what we can get better at because obviously a big matchup going next week and we’re fired up about it.”
Ball State (0-1) got its points on Brody Boehm's 54-yard field goal with 1:17 remaining in the second quarter. Keldric Luster was 18 of 33 passing for 89 yards in his first collegiate start.
“I feel like we did a good job being level-headed and you know cool, calm, collected, and just played our game,” Luster said.
Running game picks up
The Buckeyes had only 35 yards rushing and averaged 2.1 yards per carry in the first half. It was a different story in the second.
With long third-quarter touchdown runs by Bo Jackson (65 yards) and Ja’Kobi Jackson (49 yards), Ohio State had 202 yards on the ground in the third and fourth quarters, and averaged 11.3 yards per carry.
Bo Jackson finished as the Buckeyes' leading rusher with nine carries for 83 yards.
“We knew we were going to go pop soon, so everyone just continued to do their job that they were doing in the first half, and we ended up popping one — a couple,” said Ja'Kobi Jackson, who had 83 yards on eight carries.
Tressel joins Ring of Honor
Jim Tressel, who coached Ohio State to the 2002 national championship, joined Paul Brown and Woody Hayes as coaches in Ohio Stadium’s Ring of Honor.
The honor came at the end of the first quarter, when many of Tressel's former players joined him on the field, where a banner fittingly made look to like a sweater vest came off the sign.
“Probably never dreamed this thing would happen. You just work every day,” said Tressel, who led the Buckeyes from 2001-10, which also included title game appearances in 2006 and ’07. “I'm excited for what our part of this century has been. We're proud to have begun that part.”
The takeaway
Ball State: The Cardinals, who received $1.9 million to play Ohio State for the first time, fell to 0-2 against No. 1-ranked teams in the AP Top 25.
“There’s a lot of positives on both sides of the ball,” coach Mike Uremovich said. “They had some big runs at the end, but I was happy with the way our defense played. Offensively, it wasn’t a bunch of three-and-outs. I mean, we’re getting first downs.”
Ohio State: Day said Tuesday that he wanted a clean performance from the Buckeyes. The offense operated with tempo while the defense held the Cardinals to 165 total yards.
Up next
Ball State: Hosts Stony Brook on Sept. 12.
Ohio State: At No. 5 Texas on Sept. 12.
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