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COLUMBUS – A grade card on Ohio State's 56-3 win over Ball State in its season opener:
OFFENSE: A-
Ohio State started a bit slowly when it went three and out on its first possession but drove 99 yards on seven plays, including a 48-yard touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to Jeremiah Smith, the second time it had the ball. It also had a 90-yard scoring drive in the final minute of the first half to go up 28-3.
Sayin was sharp after missing connections with receivers twice early in the game. Smith got open continually, as did a lot of OSU receivers. Fourteen Buckeyes, including receivers, running backs and tight ends caught passes.
There has been much curiosity since the hiring of Arthur Smith what Ohio State's offense will look like with him as its coordinator. No big revelations came out of Saturday's game about the offense but it produced 671 total yards.
The offensive line had some struggles early on a few plays in the running game, which averaged only 2.1 yards per rush in the first half, and it gave up two sacks before halftime. The run game blocking improved in the second half.
OSU's coaches got what they've wanted for a long time when No. 1 running back Bo Jackson went 65 yards for a touchdown, with a couple broken tackles along the way, early in the second half. Sayin scored on a running play for the first time in his college career.
Freshman Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair played about the same number of snaps but Fahey got into the game before Sinclair.
DEFENSE: A-
Ball State's only points came on a 54-yard field goal. Ball State quarterback Keldric Luster had good mobility and was sacked only once by an Ohio State defense with eight new starters. The defense is still a work in progress but it is also a defense being compared to one which had three players selected in the first round of the NFL draft and two more in the second round.
Ball State's leading rusher gained 20 yards, its quarterback threw for 89 yards and its top receiver had 5 catches for 20 yards.
OSU freshman cornerback Jay Timmons started at nickel and had two pass breakups. Second-year cornerback Devin Sanchez also had two breakups and linebacker T.J. Alford had an interception. Linebacker Riley Pettijohn was the leader in tackles with six.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B-
Freshman Legend Bey made the same mistake twice when he tried to return two kickoffs instead of taking a touchback, which led to OSU starting drives at its own 16-yard line and its own 10-yard line instead of at the 25-yard line. He made up for it, though, with a 25-yard touchdown catch from Fahey and a 24-yard carry.
New kicker Connor Hawkins was perfect on extra points but did not get an opportunity to kick a field goal.
OVERALL: B+
Ohio State played well enough that coach Ryan Day said there was "a lot to feel confident about in this game" but then quickly moved on to the challenge the Buckeyes face at Texas on Saturday night.