Buckeye Leaves: Caden Curry, Kayden McDonald, Jeremiah Smith Help Lead No. 1 Ohio State To 24-6 Win Over Washington

Washington hosted No. 1 Ohio State with the hopes of knocking off the top team in the country. The Buckeyes were determined to not let that happen, and head back to Columbus with a 24-6 win in their first Big Ten game of the season.

Here’s who the BSB staff believes deserve Buckeye Leaves for their performances in this game:

Sam Cirpriani: The Buckeyes big man in the trenches, defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, or as he likes to call himself, K-Mac, is getting my Buckeye leaf. McDonald was an overwhelming presence against Washington, routinely wreaking havoc and creating push against the Huskies interior line.

He finished his afternoon with seven tackles (four solo), two sacks and three tackles for loss. Both of McDonald’s sacks came at dire moments in the second half. With Washington threatening with third-and-goal with four minutes left in the third quarter, McDonald swallowed up quarterback Demond Williams Jr. for a seven-yard sack, forcing the Huskies to kick. Then with just over eight minutes to play, McDonald sacked Williams on fourth-and-2 to secure a turnover on downs for Ohio State.

Bobby Gorbett: My Buckeye Leaf is going to be the Buckeyes’ only first-half touchdown scorer, Jeremiah Smith. At times, it wasn’t easy for Ohio State’s offense in the 24-6 win over Washington on Saturday.

Ohio State’s first two drives went for no points as the Huskies often followed Smith with a couple of defensive backs. Smith, who finished the game with a team-high eight catches for 81 receiving yards, scored his touchdown late in the first half when the Buckeyes were behind the sticks on third and 11 at the Washington 18-yard-line.

Smith got free of the Huskies’ man coverage and after catching the ball a couple of yards past the line of scrimmage he used his speed to surge into the end zone.

Greg Wilson: My Buckeye Leaf goes to Caden Curry, who was possibly the biggest part of Ohio State’s defense being as dominant as it was throughout the game. Between the 20s, Washington was moving the ball at some points during the game, but the Buckeyes were able to keep the Huskies out of the end zone the entire contest.

Curry was a big part of that, with multiple sacks when Demond Williams Jr. seemed to have the offense moving along. and continuously got into the backfield to either disrupt a play or completely bring it to a halt.

He finished the game with 11 total tackles, nine tackles for loss and three sacks, an impressive stat line.