No. 2 Buckeyes Stomp Broncos in Blowout Fashion

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After a somewhat sluggish start in the team's opening contest versus the Akron Zips (0-2), the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) left no prisoners on Sept. 7 in a 56-0 rout of the Western Michigan Broncos (0-2). Entering the weekend as the No. 3 team in the conference according to the College Football Dawgs' Big Ten Power Rankings, the Buckeyes showed vast improvement from last weekend.

Running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson combined for 4 rushing touchdowns while freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith went for 119 receiving yards as the Buckeyes convincingly dismantled the Western Michigan Broncos.

Buckeyes Beatdown

As soon as the opening whistle blew before a jam-packed crowd at Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes wasted no time getting the party started. From the get-go, Ohio State did most of their damage in the first quarter. Before the Broncos could catch their breath, the Buckeyes pounced like a lion at mealtime. After a six-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Henderson, Ohio State went for the jugular as QB Will Howard connected with Smith for a 70-yard touchdown bomb. Minutes later, Judkins dashed his way to a pair of touchdowns, and Howard put the exclamation mark on a dominating first half with a 6-yard touchdown run of his own to give Ohio State a 35-0 lead at the intermission.

Even though the scoring for Ohio State slowed down in the second half, the Buckeyes continued to flex their muscles defensively as they held the Broncos to a minuscule 99 yards of total offense and only six first downs on the night. Furthermore, the Buckeyes secondary played phenomenally as they surrendered only 4.2 passing yards per attempt. Simply put, Ohio State’s defensive execution was a thing of beauty. With another dynamic performance on the defensive side of the ball, it’s hard to argue against the fact that the Buckeyes possess one of the top defenses in the nation. Meanwhile, OSU amassed 683 yards of total offense and recorded a whopping 30 first downs on the evening.

What It Means

Ohio State

There were certainly murmurs from the college football landscape about whether or not the Buckeyes could be taken seriously as a national title contender after the slow start against Akron, but it is safe to say Ohio State silenced many of their haters in their second showing of the 2024 season. Yes, the offense is still ironing out some kinks, but the defense has proven to be other-worldly.

If that type of tenacity on defense continues to be the case moving forward, then the sky is the limit. While the Buckeyes won't endure their first true test of the season until Big Ten Conference play rolls around a few weeks from now, Ohio State appears to be the team to beat in the B1G.

Western Michigan

Opening their 2024 schedule with back-to-back matchups against Big Ten powerhouses Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Broncos gave the Badgers a tough fight last weekend but were overwhelmed by the Buckeyes in Week 2. Clearly, there are concerns about the offense, which is averaging only 7 points per game through eight quarters. The Broncos will need to develop a more effective vertical passing game to push the football down the field and improve the offense's efficiency. Since former head coach PJ Fleck's departure in 2016, the WMU football program has faced difficulties, but the upcoming schedule offers a brighter outlook with no ranked opponents remaining.