Picking three impressive Kyle McCord throws from season-opening start

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord didn’t need to be perfect in the season opener Saturday.

Buckeyes fifth-year head coach Ryan Day wasn’t going to ask McCord to be first-round draft pick caliber in his first start since the 2021 season. C.J. Stroud wasn’t in his season-opening win. Neither were Justin Fields or Dwayne Haskins. Day even said that the Buckeyes weren’t looking for spectacular plays Saturday. They simply wanted a quarterback who could handle the situation and make few mistakes, if any.

McCord delivered on it — for the most part. Yes, there is so much to improve on after a 20-point win over Indiana on Saturday. But he also has a lot to show for his first start since beating Akron two Septembers ago.

And Ryan Day saw some good things from his QB1.

“I thought in the third quarter during those couple of drives, he got in a rhythm and made some nice throws,” Day said of McCord. “… The throw down the middle to Cade was a really nice throw. That was big. But some plays certainly we want to have back. I think, once again we’ll have to look at the film and see, I think it was a mixed bag. Overall, it was a mixed bag. Wasn’t positive or negative. And that’s part of watching the film: sometimes you think coming out of the game and something happened, you didn’t quite see it that way on film. We’ll get on it, identify it and move forward.”

Moving forward means getting into the film room, showing improvement next weekend in the home opener against Youngstown State and showing he can lead this program to its ultimate goals.

Lettermen Row is peeking into the film room and breaking down McCord’s top three throws of the afternoon against the Hoosiers and what made them so good. Let’s dive in.

1. 10:06 remaining, third quarter: McCord finds Fleming on first down

The play: Ohio State lined up in 12 personnel, lining Gee Scott Jr. as a tight end on the right side and Joe Royer to the left. Carnell Tate is at the right side, to the bottom of the screen, while Julian Fleming is split out to McCord’s left while TreVeyon Henderson is lined up behind McCord in the backfield. McCord used the play action wisely and had decent protection from his offensive line, which wasn’t always there all afternoon. McCord stood tall in the pocket and delivered his best strike of the day, a dart across the middle between three defenders to Julian Fleming, who ran after the catch for a big gain that set up a Buckeyes field goal. It was easily his best over-the-middle throw of the afternoon for Ohio State.

2. 4:16 remaining, third quarter: McCord hits Stover down seam for explosive gain

The play: With Marvin Harrison Jr. at the top of the screen, Emeka Egbuka at the bottom, a running back to McCord’s left and a pair of tight ends at the right side of the line of scrimmage, McCord instantly found a streaking Cade Stover down the middle of the field, launching it from the 21-yard line to the 47 for a good throw and catch. Stover took off after the catch, ending up with a 49-yard catch and run to set up a massive Ohio State touchdown run. It was a quick read by McCord and a nice throw into the teeth of the secondary for the longest pass play of the afternoon. Once McCord settled in and began to show confidence in his ability, the throws like this came more often. It was a great sign for the Buckeyes.

3. 5:48 remaining, fourth quarter: McCord moves chains with dart to Miyan Williams

The play: Ohio State lined up with three receivers to the left, Cade Stover to the right and running back Miyan Williams at his right in the backfield. Stover runs mesh to the left, vacating the right side for Williams to run a wheel route on fourth down, covered by a defensive end. Williams ran a good route, and McCord dropped it perfectly into Williams’ hands to convert a big-time fourth down and set up a late field goal to extend the lead. It was a good opportunity for McCord to flash his accuracy, and he took full advantage of that situation.

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