Here are five things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' win over Western Michigan

Here are five things we learned from Ohio State’s 56-0 win over Western Michigan on Saturday night:

Jeremiah Smith has speed too

In Smith’s eye-popping debut , he showed off his body control.

His highlights from the season opener against Akron included catching two touchdowns, one in which he adjusted in mid-air to reel in a pass on a fade route . And he made a one-handed catch for a gain of 45 yards.

But the 6-foot-3 pass catcher rarely found himself with space against the Zips. Only three of his 92 receiving yards came after the catch, according to data from Pro Football Focus.

A week later, he displayed more of his skill set

It was late in the first quarter against Western Michigan when Smith took off for a 70-yard touchdown, 64 of those yards coming after the catch. Three defenders surrounded Smith after he caught the ball on a quick curl route. No one, though, would touch him. Smith turned on the burners and pulled away from the pack to reach the end zone.

The Buckeyes have help in the red zone

Will Howard, the transfer quarterback from Kansas State, promised to give Ohio State a lift in situations near the goal line with his running ability.

In Howard's four seasons with the Wildcats , he ran for 19 touchdowns, with 16 from in the red zone.

Late in the second quarter, he scored his first for the Buckeyes. On a first-and-goal, he kept the ball on an option, got around two defenders to reach the edge and slipped inside the end-zone pylon for a 6-yard touchdown.

“I always say it’s great to throw a touchdown,” Howard said. “It’s a great feeling. But there’s nothing quite like running a touchdown in, feeling the crowd and celebrating with your teammates in the end zone. It was awesome.”

It was the first time since 2020 that the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback had run for a touchdown.

Western Michigan missed Jalen Buckley

The absence of Buckley was significant.

Buckley, a returning 1,000-yard rusher who was the freshman of the year in the Mid-American Conference last fall, was unavailable after undergoing an unspecified medical procedure, coach Lance Taylor said.

A week earlier at Wisconsin, Buckley ran for 64 yards and two touchdowns as the Broncos gave the Badgers an upset scare.

The three running backs who replaced him against Ohio State hardly tested the front of the Buckeyes’ defense. Zahir Abdus-Salaam, Keshawn King and Jaden Nixon combined for just 49 yards on 21 carries.

Ohio State tight ends took a step forward

The stat sheet was bare last week.

Gee Scott Jr., Will Kacmarek and Jelani Thurman all went without a reception against Akron, the first time since 2021 that the Buckeyes had a game in which the tight end failed to catch a pass.

The position group was more involved against Western Michigan. Scott caught Howard's first pass for a gain of 5 yards, Kacmarek had two catches for 7 yards and Thurman nearly pulled in a 23-yard catch for a touchdown in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter of the blowout, both Patrick Gurd and Bennett Christian caught passes from Julian Sayin. Christian's catch went 55 yards for a score.

Ryan Day showed aggressiveness

Despite the lopsided score, the Buckeyes did not dial things back.

Day twice had them go for it on fourth down during the second half, situations that paid off.

Facing fourth-and-8 at the Broncos’ 38-yard line midway through the third quarter, Howard connected with Brandon Inniss for a 19-yard completion, setting up TreVeyon Henderson’s 16-yard touchdown run two plays later

On a fourth-and-1 approaching midfield in the fourth quarter, Sayin threw his 55-yard touchdown to Christian. Sayin had an option to hand off to freshman running back James Peoples, but kept it and found Christian open.

Leaving no doubt was one of Day’s preseason mottos, and it seemed like a point of emphasis on Saturday.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com .

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Here are five things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' win over Western Michigan