Rewatch notebook: Final thoughts from Buckeyes win over Penn State

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day said it best Saturday after the 20-12 win over Penn State.

He made sure to mention that the Buckeyes have two wins over top-10 teams this season — just seven games in. And when his quarterback Kyle McCord stepped to the mic, he echoed that, almost wearing the fact that he and the Buckeyes are 2-0 against the best teams on their schedule with a badge of honor.

Ohio State sits at 7-0 and controls its destiny. Win out, go to the College Football Playoff as a Big Ten champion. But even if a loss is on the schedule in the final five weeks of the season, the Buckeyes have two wins that can help them make the four-team field regardless.

There are signs stemming from the win over Penn State that that this team can reach all of its goals. There are also plenty of reasons to believe the Buckeyes must show market improvements if they’re going to beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and beat two teams in the College Football Playoff.

Lettermen Row has watched the Buckeyes win over Penn State a few times now, including once in person and a couple of times on the rewatch, and we have some final thoughts before moving onto the road trip to Wisconsin this week. Let’s dive in.

Jordan Hancock is underrated star for Buckeyes

Ohio State talked for an entire year about the potential of Jordan Hancock. The bad part of it was that he was injured and couldn’t play, and when he came back from injury last season, he wasn’t 100 percent. Now he is, and he’s proving all of the hype about him from the last 12 months to be so much more than just hype.

With a loaded cornerback room, the Buckeyes moved Hancock to the slot. He has absolutely thrived. There was the pass breakup on the first drive of the game, which set the tone for the defense’s afternoon. There was the blitz call in which he blew up a third-down run when Penn State was knocking on the door to score in the second quarter. There were countless times he was in position to make solid tackles with his physical style of playing.

Hancock is quickly becoming a star at nickel back for the Buckeyes. He’s flying under the radar as he works, too.

Cade Stover deserves Mackey Award consideration

There’s not an active tight end in college football right now that’s better than Cade Stover. Of course, Georgia’s Brock Bowers is out with an injury right now, so Stover is emerging as a contender for the Mackey Award. Stover’s ability to get open, find space and be a receiving threat for Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord was on full display Saturday against Penn State. Stover had four catches for 70 yards on four targets, including an incredible grab over a defender in the middle of the field on a critical play.

With Buckeyes star Emeka Egbuka still sidelined for the second straight game, Stover became even more important on Saturday — and he delivered. Stover still has room to grow as a blocking tight end for the Buckeyes, but he certainly deserves plenty of flowers for his progression as a sure-handed target and a reliable weapon at Ohio State. And at this pace, he’ll stay gaining buzz for the Mackey Award while Bowers is out.

Ohio State front seven destroyed Penn State

The second half was dominated by the Ohio State front seven. And it wasn’t just in the pass-rush, where the Buckeyes had 26 pressures (from PFF), but that was certainly felt on the rewatch. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar had no time to do anything in the second half, and even when he did, he was already rattled. Bad decisions, bad passes, he had both. It was a clinic from the Buckeyes front seven that was playing well entering this game, but they turned it up in the biggest moments.

Mike Hall and Tyleik Williams deserve a lot of credit, but so does often overlooked defensive tackle Ty Hamilton. Lettermen Row will be talking about Hamilton more this week, and that charge will be led by our Andy Backstrom, who pointed out Hamilton’s solid performance to me on Monday.

Oh, and that funk the linebackers seemed to be in? They’re out of that. Cody Simon, Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg were great Saturday. They’ll need to be this week at Wisconsin and especially next month at Michigan, as well.

Can Buckeyes win national title with Kyle McCord?

This is a big question we need to know the answer to in order to set expectations for the rest of the season. McCord has just one interception on the year, a testament to his accuracy when throwing into tight windows — but also how lucky he has gotten with dropped interceptions in the two biggest games of the year so far. He has, however, fumbled far too many times; he has been stripped of the football a few times already this season. But he’s also the Big Ten’s leader in passing yards and has the Buckeyes undefeated — and is getting the ball to his best playmakers, especially Marvin Harrison Jr.

McCord is not C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields or Dwayne Haskins. Nobody asked him to be. He’s Kyle McCord. And while it is admittedly weird to see the Buckeyes winning games like this — with some struggles at quarterback — it means that if McCord takes the next step in his progression over the next few games like he should, Ohio State is going to be very, very hard to beat. The defense is giving McCord time to grow into the role.

McCord threw for 286 yards and a touchdown — with no turnovers — against one of the best defenses in college football on Saturday. He’s only going to keep getting better.

Other notes

+ Marvin Harrison Jr. should be a Heisman Trophy candidate. Lettermen Row’s Andy Backstrom wrote about that here.

+ The Buckeyes offensive coaching staff does deserve some credit for scheming Harrison Jr. on two crossing routes, taking Penn State’s aggression and turning it on the Nittany Lions. He was very good, but the coaching staff also created good spots for Harrison to make those plays. The staff deserves credit.

+ The holding call on Josh Simmons was a bad call. It destroyed an Ohio State drive — but it shouldn’t have been called.

+ Ohio State got lucky that Penn State cornerback Kalen King held Marvin Harrison Jr., which took away a Nittany Lions scoop-and-score touchdown. Kyle McCord has been far too loose with the football in the pocket. His ball security is part of the maturation process, but he must be better in big games, especially against Michigan next month.

+ I think Ohio State would have won by multiple scores if TreVeyon Henderson was playing running back on Saturday. There are a few runs that would have been much bigger gains if the ball was in Henderson’s hands instead of Chip Trayanum’s or Miyan Williams. Williams did run well, and it was weird to me how few yards rushing Ohio State ended with. I thought they ran the ball well, considering the opponent.

+ It’s very clear that Kyle McCord trusts freshman Carnell Tate, who had three catches on five targets. His role will continue to increase, even when Egbuka returns to the lineup.

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