Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith outruns the Grambling State defense to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

COLUMBUS — They could have sung Carmen Ohio at halftime. Maybe earlier.

Ohio State’s 70-0 win against Grambling on Saturday was over long before it was over.

Talent won out. No. 1 Ohio State had much, much more of it than Grambling, an FCS school taking on one of the biggest of the big boys in college football.

“Their team played hard in this game but they were outmatched talent-wise. That’s for sure,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.

Ohio State scored touchdowns on five of its first half possessions to take a 35-0 halftime lead. And the one time it didn’t Grambling intercepted a pass at the 1-yard line.

Then in the second half it scored 35 more points with back-ups getting most of the playing time.

Quarterback Julian Sayin completed his first 16 passes and was 18 of 19 for 306 yards to lead an OSU offense which rolled up 651 yards of total offense.

Freshman Bo Jackson led Ohio State’s running backs with 9 carries for 108 yards, all in the second half, and scored a touchdown.

Jeremiah Smith caught 5 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Carnell Tate, Will Kacmarek and Jelani Thurman also had touchdown catches.

Ohio State entered the game as a more than 50-point favorite but stayed focused on the task at hand.

Smith said Ohio State’s mindset was “Just go out and dominate.”

“Don’t play down to your competition. If we go out there and play down to their competition that’s when they make it a game,” he said.

Defensive end Caden Curry said the Buckeyes’ attitude was “just doing our jobs.”

Day said he saw that kind of focus in practice leading up to the game.

“I thought our 48 hours leading up to the game was pretty business like. But you have to put it on the field,” he said.

The avalanche of points started with a 6-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Sayin to Kacmarek with 12:39 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

The lead grew to 14-0 the next time OSU had the ball when Sayin connected with Smith for an 87-yard touchdown pass.

Tate’s 17-yard touchdown catch made it 21-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Smith’s second touchdown catch, which came on Sayin’s fourth TD pass, put Ohio State up 28-0 with 11:38 left in the first half.

Tyrell Raby’s interception at the goal line on the Buckeyes’ next possession was the only time in the first half Grambling stopped OSU’S offense.

C.J. Donaldson’s 2-yard run for a touchdown ended an 8-play, 62-yard drive and gave OSU a 35-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, freshman linebacker Riley Pettijohn had a 23-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, Jackson scored on an 11-yard run, Isaiah West ran 12 yards for a touchdown, Thurman caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Lincoln Kienholz and Samuel Jackson had a 1-yard touchdown run in the game’s final minute.

“Riley Pettijohn seemed to pop for sure. That was a big play. I thought Bo and Isaiah both ran hard. It was good to see them break tackles and get some positive runs,” Day said.

“It was good to get some of our depth in there. Sometimes when you put depth in you expect a significant dropoff but that didn’t happen,” he said.

Grambling coach Mickey Joseph said, “It was a great experience for my kids. This is a great memory for them. You know, everybody can’t say they’ll play the No. 1 team in the country, so we got the opportunity. It probably ended the way some people thought it would end, but I’m proud of my kids. I’m proud of my coaches. They worked hard and the players played hard.”