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Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (10) warms up before the game against Texas in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 12. Eric Gay \/ AP<\/p>\n
Eric Gay – AP<\/p>\n
COLUMBUS \u2014 Ohio State is on to Saturday\u2019s game against Kent State, even though most fans of the sixth-ranked Buckeyes are still fuming about last Saturday\u2019s 24-23 loss to No. 1 Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people\u2019s days are made or break on a three-hour game, and we don\u2019t want that anymore than they do,\u201d offensive guard Luke Montgomery said. \u201cWe definitely let the people down. We let ourselves down with that one. We\u2019ve got a great group of guys and a great bunch of leaders here who have a lot of experience in games like that and it\u2019s time now. Adversity\u2019s hit, and we\u2019ve got a great foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Buckeyes are 52 1\/2 point favorites over the Golden Flashes and have won the past three meetings by a combined score of 165-20, including 66-0 in the last meeting in 2014.<\/p>\n
The defense will be looking to bounce back after allowing Texas to score on three fourth-quarter drives. Quarterback Julian Sayin will try to rebound after completing just 5 of 16 passes with an interception in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about how we move forward to correct our mistakes, see what we did wrong and try to improve those and make sure this doesn\u2019t happen again,\u201d Sayin said. \u201cI think we have a good group of guys on our team. I think we can use this as fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day watches players warm up before the game against Texas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 12. Eric Gay \/ AP<\/p>\n
Eric Gay – AP<\/p>\n
With both teams at 1-1, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day is more concerned about his team than his opponent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is our standard? We have to redefine it because we didn\u2019t finish it good enough in that game, so it doesn\u2019t matter who the opponent is, it\u2019s gotta be about us,\u201d Day said. \u201cIf we\u2019re executing, it shouldn\u2019t matter who the opponent is. So we\u2019re looking for a high level of execution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Smith goes for the yardage record<\/p>\n
Jeremiah Smith needs 26 yards to surpass Michael Jenkins for the most receiving yards in Ohio State history. Jenkins had 2,898 yards from 2000-03.<\/p>\n
The junior has consecutive games of at least 150 yards for the first time in his career, with 16 receptions for 315 yards and three touchdowns over the first two games. Over his past four games, he is averaging 7.8 catches for 154 yards with four touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Under pressure<\/p>\n
Ohio State\u2019s kicking game is once again under the spotlight after Baylor transfer Connor Hawkins missed wide left on a 45-yard field goal attempt during the fourth quarter that would have put the Buckeyes up by two scores. Instead, Texas drove 73 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown.<\/p>\n
Hawkins is 3 of 4 on field goals, but the Buckeyes are 8 of 14 on field goals in seven prior losses. Hawkins replaced Jayden Fielding as kicker this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re confident in Connor. I don\u2019t think we can group Connor in with anything that\u2019s happened in the past. That\u2019s not Connor\u2019s issue,\u201d Day said. \u201cThat being said, we count on him to make that kick, and he\u2019s beat himself up over that kick. Also on offense we\u2019ve gotta put him in a better situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
About the Flashes …<\/p>\n
Kent State lost to South Carolina 57-0 in its opener before defeating FCS opponent Wofford 36-15 last Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Golden Flashes have 57 players from Ohio on their roster, including wide receiver and kick returner Da\u2019Realyst Clark. The senior led the nation with two kick return touchdowns last year and averaged 28.3 yards per return, which was fourth nationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sell it in recruiting, right? The opportunity to go play the best in the country in one of the greatest venues in all of college football and do it in front of your home fans,\u201d coach Mark Carney said about Kent State\u2019s chance to play the Buckeyes. \u201cA lot of us grew up in this state and get a chance to put ourselves on tape against the best of the best in this state. And guys choose this place because of that. So we\u2019re excited for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Injury report<\/p>\n
Ohio State defensive lineman Zion Grady and offensive tackle Philip Daniels are doubtful for the game. Grady suffered a knee injury during the first half at Texas and Daniels injured his leg.<\/p>\n
Gabe VanSickle will likely start at right guard with Austin Siereveld shifting over to right tackle. Freshman Khary Wilder could see extended action after recording four quarterback pressures and three QB hits in limited snaps the first two games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (10) warms up before the game against Texas in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-441163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}