Following Ohio State’s convincing 52-6 victory over Akron in the season opener, Zips head coach Joe Moorhead spoke to the media about how he felt relations between his team and the Buckeyes had gone.

Ohio State fans may have been shocked by the team’s slow start against Akron, but the end result was still a huge win and Moorhead seemed pretty confident that the Buckeyes were a championship-caliber team.

“…I coached against the 2019 LSU team (…) and I know what a team looks like that can play for a national championship. And this looks like a team that can play for a national championship. That’s what I learned about Ohio State.”

Moorhead was also asked about Jeremiah Smith, the highly touted freshman wide receiver who had a stellar game with six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

“We follow each other on Twitter, which is cool. (…) But he’s as advertised (…) It’s a wealth of wealth. You know, everywhere you look there’s a guy who can catch the ball, break a tackle and score (…) So, to see that kid play in real life after all the pomp and circumstance that came before, he lived up to his potential.”

Coaching a team that was outscored by nearly 50 points to victory in Ohio Stadium was a tough task to begin with. Although the Zips held the ball for eight minutes longer than the Buckeyes, they finished with more than 200 fewer yards.

One of the biggest issues Akron faced as the game progressed was depth; it became apparent that Ohio State could maintain intensity (particularly on defense) throughout the game in a way that the Zips could not. The Buckeyes collected 10 tackles for loss and sacked Akron quarterbacks 5 times on the afternoon, as Ohio State’s defensive line was constantly in the Akron backfield.

Moorhead was asked about the difference between the two teams.

“…It prepares you for the games in the season where the competitive balance is a little more even. (…) You’re not going to match (Ohio State’s) size, speed and physicality in (the rest of) your schedule. But on the other side of that pancake, you hope to come out healthy.”

It’s a tough situation for Moorhead, who is in his third year as Akron’s head coach. While there wasn’t much positive for the Zips to take away from Saturday’s game, here’s hoping the Zips can make some noise in the MAC as the regular season progresses.