In previous years, Ohio State’s non-conference games against non-Power 5 opponents have usually served as prime opportunities for players at the back of the Buckeyes’ depth chart to see playing time. That didn’t happen in this year’s non-conference opener against Youngstown State.
While Ohio State was in full control for most of the game, finishing the day with a 35-7 win, the Buckeyes never completely pulled their starters on either side of the ball.
Ohio State had only 10 possessions on offense (with one of those being just one play to run out the clock) due to a combination of college football’s new clock rules and Youngstown State possessing the ball for 34 of the game’s 60 minutes, and the Buckeyes kept their starting offensive line in for the entire game while Kyle McCord and Devin Brown split reps at quarterback.