A pair of Buckeyes were recognized on Monday for their efforts in Ohio State’s 35-7 win over Iowa when wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was named the Big Ten’s co-Offensive Player of the Week, and Howard was named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8.
Egbuka, who shares the honor this week with Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, had one of the best outings of his long career with the Buckeyes against Iowa on Saturday. He totaled a career-high three touchdowns and matched his career high with nine receptions, which went for 71 yards.
Egbuka helped Ohio State set the tone on offense on the team’s very first drive of the game when he hauled in a 14-yard pass from Howard to cap off an over 7 ½-minute 14-play, 88-yard drive that gave the Buckeyes an early 7-0 lead. His day was far from over, though, as he added two more scores, a 15-yard catch from Howard at the end of the third quarter and a three-yard catch on third-and-goal in the beginning of the fourth, helping the Buckeyes outscore the Hawkeyes 28-7 in the second half.
“I think Emeka is one of the best receivers in the country,” head coach Ryan Day said after the win over Iowa. “It hurt him last year to have the high ankle sprain. But you think about where he was the year before and now what he’s doing, you just see a complete player. He’s the captain of our team. He’s a warrior. He does all the dirty work, like he did in the Michigan State game. But then to see him come back and have three touchdown catches – and all three of those were contested – was huge.”
Egbuka also made some movement in the Ohio State record books following his career outing against Iowa. He now stands in a tie for 10th place in program history in career touchdown receptions with 19, while he is now 10th in receiving yards (2,290) and seventh in receptions (154). He is also just 48 receptions shy of K.J. Hill’s record of 201, set from 2016-19, and 608 yards shy of the receiving yardage record set by Michael Jenkins from 2000-03.
As for Howard, he earned his recognition for another strong performance on Saturday, where he completed 21 of his 25 passes for 209 yards and a season-high four passing touchdowns. He also added his fifth rushing touchdown of the season on a 4-yard score from the goal line in the third quarter. He has now recorded a rushing touchdown in his last four games.
Howard’s strong outing adds to an overall impressive start to his Ohio State career. Through five games Howard is completing 71.5 percent of his passes for 1,248 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, good for a passing efficiency rating of 178.0 which ranks eighth in the country.
Howard is one of eight players to earn the recognition from the Davey O’Brien Award, including Minnesota’s Max Brosmer, Army’s Bryson Daily, Pittsburgh’s Eli Holstein, former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Washington’s Will Rogers and Miami’s Cam Ward.
Howard is unlikely to take home the award — which will be announced on Tuesday at 1 p.m. — as he did add one interception against the Hawkeyes, his third of the season. He has now thrown an interception in three straight games.
