Eric Boggs
Ohio State’s defense delivered in a big way Saturday, powering the Buckeyes to a 24-6 road win at Washington and snapping the Huskies’ 22-game home winning streak at Husky Stadium. In a game where the offense started slow, it was the defensive front—particularly Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald—that set the tone and carried the nation’s No. 1 team in its Big Ten opener.
Curry and McDonald combined for 18 tackles, eight tackles for loss and five sacks, overwhelming a Washington offense that had averaged more than 55 points per game. Curry tied Ohio State’s single-game school record with five tackles for loss while recording 11 total tackles and three sacks. McDonald added seven tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks, both coming in crucial red zone moments that halted Husky drives.
The Huskies had three trips inside the Buckeyes’ 20-yard line but came away with only six points, including two drives that reached the 3-yard line or closer. McDonald’s sack on 3rd-and-goal in the third quarter forced Washington to settle for a field goal, and his fourth-down sack in the fourth quarter all but sealed the game. “Both of those guys played great,” head coach Ryan Day said afterward, calling it a performance that proved Ohio State’s defensive front is much more than a question mark.
The Buckeyes trailed 3-0 late in the second quarter and had gone nearly 29 minutes without points before sophomore superstar Jeremiah Smith flipped the game. Facing 3rd-and-11 at Washington’s 18-yard line, Smith caught a short pass from quarterback Julian Sayin, split defenders, and raced into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:08 left in the half. It gave Ohio State its first lead and swung momentum permanently in the Buckeyes’ favor.
Ohio State’s offense found its rhythm late. With under nine minutes to play and holding a two-score lead, Day kept the offense on the field on 4th-and-1 at Washington’s 4-yard line. Sayin hit running back CJ Donaldson out of the backfield for a touchdown, putting the Buckeyes ahead 24-6 and silencing the purple-clad crowd.
The win marked Ohio State’s fifth straight against Washington and improved the Buckeyes to 10-3 all-time in the series. It was also a homecoming of sorts for familiar faces. Former Buckeyes receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, now with the Seattle Seahawks, attended the game, while former Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith joined the team on the trip.
Washington head coach Jedd Fisch credited Ohio State’s poise and particularly its red zone defense. “When you play the number one team in the country, they know how to win, they’ve won a lot, they win every year,” Fisch said. “And if you’re going to be able to finish the game and be able to win those games, those penalties can’t happen, those sacks can’t happen. The mistakes that were made can’t happen, and we’re going to learn from that.” He also pointed to Matt Patricia’s influence on Ohio State’s defense: “That red zone defense has been tried and true for the last 25 years up in New England, and there are a lot of challenges there, a lot of different coverages.”
For Curry, who described the defensive line before the season as “just a bunch of no-names,” Saturday’s performance was a national coming-out party. His 11 tackles were the most by an Ohio State defensive lineman since Cameron Heyward’s effort against Penn State in 2009. McDonald, meanwhile, continues to establish himself as one of the most disruptive defensive tackles in the country, combining rare explosiveness with overwhelming power. Both players deflected praise back toward their unit. “We’re always going to have that mindset, and we’re never going to let it get to our head,” Curry said. “We’re always going to play like we are those guys that just kind of play as one unit.”
Ohio State, now 4-0, returns home next Saturday for its second Big Ten test against Minnesota at Ohio Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on NBC.
