When Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr. were teammates at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia, they expected to have college games like Saturday's.

Sure, they probably imagined putting on a show in front of a more imposing opponent than Youngstown State, which No. 5 Ohio State defeated 35-7 in the Buckeyes' home opener in front of 102,897 spectators at Ohio Stadium.

But if bigger tests await, Saturday's performance was significant nonetheless.

Touted as a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, Harrison had a quiet opener last week at Indiana. He caught only two passes for 18 yards, both in the first quarter.

McCord took a step toward solidifying his status as starting quarterback last week. He all but cemented it Saturday. McCord threw touchdown passes of 71 and 39 yards to Harrison in the first quarter for Ohio State's first two scores. He finished with 258 passing yards and three touchdowns, completing 14 of 20 throws.

McCord played six of the first seven Buckeye possessions. He played eight of 10 possessions last week.

Devin Brown, who has battled McCord for the job, played one possession in the first half. He completed 2 of 6 passes for 21 yards on a 13-play, 60-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. He finished 7-for-13 passing for 101 yards.

Last week against Indiana, McCord did connect with Harrison in the end zone. But that 24-yarder was negated when the receiver was penalized for not returning inbounds immediately when pushed out of bounds. Ohio State coach Ryan Day said this week he was told by the Big Ten that the penalty should not have been called.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day praised McCord for his "poise" and remarked that he looked "more comfortable" this week but didn't go as far as to declare him the full-time starter.

"We'll look at it over this weekend," Day said. "I'm not ready to make a decision."

Against Youngstown State, it was clear Ohio State (2-0) wanted to get Harrison the ball early and often. On the game's first possession, OSU faced a third-and-5 from its 29-yard line. Harrison was left in man-to-man coverage and easily beat his man down the left sideline. He caught McCord's pass in stride and ran unthreatened for the touchdown.

"Anytime we can get the ball in the hands of the playmakers, they can do great things," McCord said. "We made a step in the right direction, but there's definitely room for improvement."

Youngstown State (1-1), a 44-point underdog by oddsmakers even willing to post a point spread, answered with an impressive 75-yard touchdown drive. The Penguins completed a 36-yard pass on third down to keep the possession alive and scored on a 1-yard keeper by quarterback Mitch Davidson.

After the teams exchanged punts, the Buckeyes took the lead for good. McCord threw a 24-yard pass to Emeka Egbuka to the Youngstown State 39-yard line and then threw a dart to Harrison in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.

Brown then led the Buckeyes' next touchdown drive. He moved out of the pocket to find tight end Gee Scott Jr. for a third-down conversion. After a hands-to-the-face penalty on left tackle Josh Simmons, Brown was hit late out of bounds to give OSU a first down. On the next play, TreVeyon Henderson ran 13 yards for the score.

McCord returned on Ohio State's ensuing possession and led an 89-yard touchdown drive capped by a 28-yard pass to Egbuka to give Ohio State a 28-7 lead.

McCord played one series in the third quarter – a three-and-out – before Brown returned to lead OSU's fifth touchdown. He threw a nice 20-yarder to freshman Carnell Tate before Henderson scored on a 30-yard run.

After Youngstown State's early touchdown, Ohio State's defense clamped down, though it wasn't as dominating as it was in yielding only 153 yards and a field goal to Indiana.

Youngstown State gained 234 yards.

Ohio State did get its first turnover of the season when Denzel Burke intercepted a pass in the end zone in the third quarter. It was the first interception by an OSU cornerback since October 2021.

Day said he was disappointed in his defense.

"We have to do a better job of getting off the field on defense," he said.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Back on track: Ohio State offense rebounds in 35-7 win over Youngstown State