Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins carries the ball against Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday.
One of the things Ohio State’s 38-7 win over Michigan State showed was that OSU head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly are not hesitant about going for a first down on fourth down rather than kicking a field goal or punting if they think the situation is right.
OSU went for it on fourth down four times and converted on three of those situations against Michigan State on Saturday night.
Two of those decisions produced touchdowns and another resulted in a first down. The one unsuccesful attempt was with a minute to play while Ohio State was running out the clock with a 31-point lead.
The three successful attempts were:
• A touchdown pass from Will Howard to Gee Scott Jr. from the 3-yard line in the second quarter.to give OSU a 10-0 lead.
• A 1-yard run for a first down by Quinshon Judkins at Ohio State’s 45-yard line during a 13-play, 76-yard drive in the third quarter that gave Ohio State a 31-7 lead.
• A touchdown pass from Will Howard to Emeka Egbuka on fourth and five at Michigan State’s 33-yard line at the end of that same drive.
Putting the ball in the hands of the offense on fourth down is obviously popular with OSU’s offensive players.
“I love it. I love when you feel that confidence from your coordinator and your head coach when they put the ball in your hand on fourth down and they say we trust you’re going to make this play, they trust that the O-line is going to take care of the protection and that the receivers are going to run the routes and make the plays,” Howard said.
“At the end of the day I don’t think any of us thought about walking off the field on those fourth downs. We’re like, ‘Hey, we’re going for it on these fourth downs, no doubt,’ ” he said.
Egbuka said, “First and foremost the trust our coaching staff has in us to go for it on fourth down and not kick the field goal says a lot about this team.”
Ohio State is 6 for 8 in situations when it went for it on fourth down this season.
• WILLIAMS HELD OUT AGAIN: Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams missed a second consecutive game Saturday because of an unspecified injury but was healthy enough he could have played, Day said.
“Tyleik was available in an emergency role. If we felt like we needed him we were going to put him in the game. It was felt that one more week of rest would get him to 100 percent,” Day said.
Tywone Malone got his first start to fill in for Williams. Last week against Marshall, Hero Kanu replaced Williams in the starting lineup, which was also his first start.
• COACH ON THE FIELD: Ohio State defensive back Jordan Hancock is in his fourth season of college football and safety Caleb Downs is in his second college season but Hancock says he looks at Downs as a coach on the field.
“There’s a lot of questions I ask him. I continue to grow under him. He’s been like a coach on the field and that’s what we need in our secondary,” Hancock said after Saturday’s win over Michigan State.
Day said, “I thought Caleb played great tonight. He showed up in a big way at a bunch of different spots. You can just see the acceleration in how fast he plays. Part of that is his athleticism. Another is just the way he prepares. He prepares as hard as anybody on our team. He was all over the place tonight and made a huge difference.”
