The most interesting numbers from Ohio State’s 56-3 win over Ball State

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Ohio State left little doubt in their season-opening 56-3 win over Ball State on Saturday. The Buckeyes couldn’t find any traction in their first drive of the game, punting after three plays. Not much else went wrong for Ryan Day’s team, as they not only were able to showcase starters Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and others, but they also were able to get their backups some work in the second half of the blowout.

No matter the result in a game, it’s always fun to dive into the numbers after the final whistle is blown. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get too nerdy with some of the numbers I found interesting from the win over the Cardinals. With as many points and yards as the Buckeyes put up against Ball State, a lot of players were able to get in on the fun in the first game of the season.

27

Ohio State’s victory over Ball State was the 27th consecutive season-opening win for the Buckeyes, which is the longest active streak in the country. The last time Ohio State lost in their first game of the season came against the Miami Hurricanes in the Kickoff Classic in 1999. The 27 straight wins also tie Florida for the second-longest winning streak in season openers in Division I history. The Buckeyes now just need wins in their next two season openers to tie Nebraska’s streak of 29 straight from 1986 to 2014.

83

With the win over the Cardinals, Ryan Day tied Urban Meyer with 83 wins at Ohio State, which is the fourth-most in school history. The only coaches ahead of Day and Meyer in terms of wins are Woody Hayes, John Cooper, and Jim Tressel. Nine of Day’s wins have come in season-opening games for the Buckeyes, with an average margin of victory of 28.4 points per game in those games. Day is now 7-0 against teams from the MAC during his time at Ohio State, crushing teams from the conference by an average of 51.4 points per game.

38

Prior to kickoff, 31 members of Ohio State’s senior class were honored in Senior Day festivities. This marks the first year that Ohio State has honored its seniors prior to the opening kickoff of the first game of the season, as Senior Day was normally held at the final home game of the season. Those seniors have now racked up 38 wins since the beginning of the 2023 season. The seniors are hoping to add to that total the rest of the season on their way to achieving their goal of making another College Football Playoff and earning a second national championship.

3

Following the end of the first quarter, Jim Tressel was enshrined in Ohio State’s Ring of Honor. Tressel became the third Buckeye coach to be honored, joining Paul Brown and Woody Hayes. This marks the first person inducted into Ohio State’s Ring of Honor since Troy Smith was placed on the C-Deck in 2014. Tressel finished his coaching career at Ohio State with 94 wins, which is currently the third-most in school history.

671

To the surprise of nobody, Ohio State’s offense did just about anything they wanted against Ball State, racking up 671 total yards. Even though the total is impressive, it wasn’t the best in school history, or even against a MAC team. Back in 2016, Ohio State rolled up 776 yards in a 77-10 win over Bowling Green, and six years later the Buckeyes totaled 763 yards in a 77-21 win over Toledo. Of the yards Ohio State gained today, 434 of those yards came through the air.

7/189

With eight catches for 151 yards and two scores on Saturday, Jeremiah Smith continued his rise up Ohio State’s record books. The junior now sits just seven receiving touchdowns away from breaking Chris Olave’s school record of 35 receiving touchdowns, and is 189 yards away from besting Michael Jenkins’ career yardage mark of 2,898 yards. Smith notched his 12th career game of at least 100 yards receiving, which is three away from tying Marvin Harrison Jr. for the most in school history.

Along with where he stacks up on Ohio State’s career lists, Smith is also making a mockery of the Big Ten receiving records. Smith finished last season with the most receptions, yards, and receiving touchdowns in conference history through two seasons, and the Buckeye receiver looks even better as he enters his third season of college football.

83

In a bit of a statistical oddity, both Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson ran for 83 yards and a touchdown against Ball State. The only difference between the two is Bo Jackson needed one more carry to reach the mark. While the sophomore is looking to build off the 1,000-yard season he had as a freshman for the Buckeyes, Ja’Kobi Jackson is entering his seventh season of college football, spending three seasons at Coahoma Community College, followed by three years at Florida. The Jacksons also became the first Buckeyes since TreVeyon Henderson and Garrett Wilson in the 2021 win over Purdue to each have a touchdown run of at least 49 yards.

As a team, Ohio State totaled 237 yards rushing. The running backs were doing their best to put together a big game to impress Maurice Clarett, who rang the Victory Bell prior to the game. Clarett became the ninth Buckeye to ring the bell since the tradition started last year, and the first player from the Tressel era to be chosen to ring the bell.

14

Everybody certainly ate at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Of the 31 completions by Ohio State quarterbacks against Ball State, 14 Buckeyes finished the game with at least one catch in the game. The only Ohio State players to have at least three receptions in the game were Jeremiah Smith, Devin McCuin, Brandon Inniss, and Isaiah West. Joining Smith in the end zone through the air were McCuin, Legend Bey, and Chris Henry Jr.

165

While most of the attention has been paid to the offense, the defense was also outstanding against the Cardinals. Of Ball State’s 165 yards, 120 were passing yards, marking the 13th time since the beginning of the 2025 season that Ohio State has held an opponent to under 200 yards passing. Last year the Buckeye pass defense allowed just 129.7 yards per game. T.J. Alford registered the first turnover of the season for Ohio State, picking off a pass in the third quarter, while Devin Sanchez was credited with two passes defensed.

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