Ohio State QB Kyle McCord synching up head to toe right on time: Nathan Baird’s observations

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three observations from Ohio State football’s 38-3 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.

1. When Ryan Day set the parameters of the quarterback evaluation process last spring, feet and eyes figured prominently in the equation. Kyle McCord looked as locked in with both as he had at any point all season while turning in the best performance of his career.

Marvin Harrison Jr. deservedly stole the show Saturday night. McCord’s two touchdown passes to his longtime teammate will show up the most on highlights. Those were not necessarily the most important throws in terms of demonstrating his advancement towards readiness for The Game in two weeks.

On the second possession of the game, with the pocket constricting around him, McCord evaded pressure and casually flipped a shovel pass to Cade Stover. Midway through the second quarter, taking a snap in his own end zone, he cycled through multiple reads before settling for a check-down to Stover for a small gain. He found the tight end again on the final touchdown of the first half, throwing a bullet into his back pocket.

This was McCord at his most crisp, most poised and most efficient. Day said he saw it coming, even in the check-down heavy performance a week earlier at Rutgers.

“I thought his feet moved better in the game, just watching the rhythm of the game” Day said. “… The game’s slowing down for him. You can see that happening.

“Not that it’s all perfect all the time. It’s not. But when his feet are right, and he’s found the rhythm of the game, that’s what he’s playing at his best. And he threw some really nice balls tonight.”

Against a Rutgers defense ranked as one of the 10-15 best against the pass, depending on your metric of choice, McCord mostly took safer options underneath the two-high safety shell. Against Michigan State’s bottom-three-of-the-Big Ten pass defense, he picked up where Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud left off in their lacerations of the Spartans.

That may look like an overnight breakthrough, but McCord said it culminated from the slow build over 11 weeks — and likely began earlier than that.

“I feel like we’re starting to peak at the right time and get things rolling, which is good,” McCord said. “But obviously, I think that all starts during the week — the reps in practice, and then watching that extra film. I think that’s really what allowed me to play a step ahead today.”

McCord, though, didn’t leave Ohio Stadium without a self-critique. He wished he had finished his final drives better early in the second half. He and Harrison nearly connected for a third touchdown pass, but his throw was not quite precise enough to capitalize on the one-on-one situation.

Reacting to that play during the game, McCord thew his head back in frustration. With a five-touchdown lead, it had no consequence. It might make all the difference, though, at Michigan.

When Day talked about feet and eyes back in March, the goal was to synch them up with his quarterback’s arm by Thanksgiving weekend. Saturday night, McCord looked on schedule.

2. Denzel Burke needed only one series to remind everyone how essential he is to the defense. On third-and-3, Jordan Hancock blitzed through a block and tripped up Michigan State quarterback Katin Hauser. Burke stepped up and finished off the tackle for loss.

That was only Burke’s second game in the past month, after he suffered a still-unspecified injury on Oct. 14 at Purdue. With Lathan Ransom now sounding doubtful for a return by the Michigan game, Burke’s health becomes even more important.

Sonny Styles has moved to bandit to cover for Ransom, making Jordan Hancock the full-time nickel. As well as true freshman Jermaine Mathews has played, OSU wants both Burke and Davison Igbinosun available against a Michigan offense that thrives on the run and can break teams via the pass.

3. Day admitted he might have coached the second half of Saturday’s game differently had it occurred in September as opposed to two weeks before The Game. A team already missing three defensive starters and nursing bumps and bruises everywhere was content to take a game in hand by halftime and not force the issue.

Yet Day also argued that those fourth-quarter deep bench snaps provided great value, especially when building for 2024. One play in particular by true freshman cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt stood out. Michigan State executed a screen pass, and despite a wall of offensive linemen bearing down on him, Simpson-Hunt stood his ground and helped make the tackle.

“What a great play, for him to show up there,” Day said. “So now, the coaches see that. They say, wait a minute now, we should be looking at this guy.”