COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Freshman Jeremiah Smith caught two touchdown passes and No. 2 Ohio State overcame a sluggish start to bury Akron 52-6 in the opener for both teams Saturday.

Under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Buckeyes needed nearly all of the first half to start running smoothly against the overmatched Zips.

Smith dropped the first pass thrown to him on the opening drive. The Buckeyes punted, leading to an Akron field goal.

Smith redeemed himself, however, turning around to make a slick catch in the end zone of a 16-yard pass from Kansas State transfer quarterback Will Howard for a touchdown.

Late in the first half, the much-hyped receiver from South Florida caught a 9-yard pass in the end zone with cornerback Devonte Golden-Nelson draped all over him. That put the Buckeyes up 17-3 at the half.

A 45-yard contested catch in the third quarter set up a 2-yard scoring run by Quinshon Judkins, the first as a Buckeye for the Mississippi transfer.

“I just want to go out and play football and play my game,” said Smith, the top player in the 2024 recruiting class. “I know all the hype around me was crazy coming in. I just wanted to come in and be a guy (who’s) just working.”

Akron coach Joe Moorhead said Smith “is as advertised.”

“Just to see that kid playing in person, after all the kind of pomp and circumstance leading up to it, he lived up to the billing," Moorhead said.

Howard finished 17 for 28 for 228 yards and three TDs.

The Zips got field goals of 48 and 49 yards by Garrison Smith.

The Buckeyes were seven-touchdown favorites, but didn't look like it for most of the first half. The offensive line, especially, seems to still be a work in progress. They finally started to tune up and roll in the second half.

“I thought we were a little uptight early on, and we can’t play like that,” Day said.

Akron’s starting quarterback, Ben Finley, was shaken up in the first offensive series on a late hit by Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun. The Cal transfer was spelled for a series by backup Tahj Bullock but at times after that seemed in distress. He exited the game for good in the third quarter with what Moorhead described as a lower-body injury. Bullock, who also lined up elsewhere on offense when Finley was in the game, recorded 68 passing yards, 42 rushing yards and even caught two passes for four yards.

Ohio State called for a moment of silence before the game for Johnny Gaudreau, the Columbus Blue Jackets star who died along with his brother in a bicycling accident on Thursday night.

Akron: At Rutgers next Saturday.

Ohio State: Hosts Western Michigan next Saturday.

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