In the week leading up to the game, coach Ryan Day said that junior Kyle McCord would start for the Buckeyes in their opener, with redshirt freshman Devin Brown also expected to see playing time.

Entering the game, coach Ryan Day said the quarterback arrangement would remain the same as the previous week, with Kyle McCord starting and Devin Brown seeing significant playing time.

On the Buckeyes' first possession, a holding penalty on center Carson Hinzman set up a 3rd-and-5, where McCord would find Marvin Harrison Jr. on the sideline, who took the pass all the way to the endzone to give Ohio State a 7–0 lead.

Youngstown State would answer quickly, with quarterback Mitch Davidson throwing a long completion to wideout Max Tomczak over the head of Buckeye safety Cameron Martinez before scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-goal to tie the game at 7.

On the Tuesday before the game, coach Ryan Day officially announced Kyle McCord as Ohio State's full-time starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2023 season.

On the next possession, a fumble by wideout Blue Smith would give Ohio State the ball once again, and McCord would convert the turnover into another touchdown drive, capped by a 15-yard pass to Egbuka.

Ohio State would fail to move the ball on their next possession, and Notre Dame would drive into OSU territory once again, where kicker Spencer Shrader would miss a 47-yard field goal.

Ohio State's next drive would reach the Notre Dame 39, where on 3rd-and-9 a McCord pass to Egbuka for a first down was called back for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Fryar.

Notre Dame would start the fourth quarter pinned deep in their own territory, but they would quickly drive down the field, with Hartman completing passes of 28 and 25 yards to freshman receiver Jaden Greathouse and tight end Mitchell Evans.

On 2nd-and-10, McCord would attempt to throw the ball away to avoid a sack, but instead was called for intentional grounding, which forced Ohio State to use its last timeout and set up a 3rd-and-19 with 15 seconds left.

The game began with a Buckeye three-and-out, followed by Ohio State botching a punt with linebacker Cody Simon recovering a low snap, but he would be stopped well behind the line to gain.

After another quick Ohio State punt, the Buckeyes would get back in the game with a big play from their defense as safety Josh Proctor jumped in front of a pass from Tagovailoa and returned it all the way to the endzone for a pick-six to cut the deficit to 10–7.

Ohio State would respond with their best offensive drive of the day, with McCord finding receivers Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming for big gains before a 4-yard touchdown run by Trayanum tied the game at 17.

After a quick Purdue punt, Ohio State would drive into the red zone before backup quarterback Devin Brown would enter the game to provide a mobility boost.

Once Ohio State reached the red zone, Brown would re-enter the game, but would unfortunately fumble the ball into the endzone on a quarterback run, which Hayden was unable to recover, resulting in a touchback.

Ohio State would get the ball to start the second half and march right down the field, and would score on a 1-yard touchdown run by Hayden to give the Buckeyes a 27–0 lead.

After a trade of punts, Penn State back Nicholas Singleton would run for two straight first downs, setting up a 40-yard field goal by Alex Felkins which tied the game at 3–3.

After another punt by each team, Ryan Day opted to kneel out the remaining 42 seconds of the half despite having all three timeouts, taking Ohio State's 10–6 lead into halftime.

A holding penalty on tackle Josh Simmons followed by a sack of McCord by Adisa Isaac on Ohio State's next drive forced punter Jesse Mirco to kick from the back of his own endzone, and he booted a 72-yard punt to flip the field.

After Penn State's next drive went nowhere, they would catch a break on special teams as they recovered a punt that bounced off the foot of Lorenzo Styles Jr. to give Allar and the Nittany Lions good field position.

On Wisconsin's second play after the turnover, Braelon Allen would fumble it right back to Ohio State, which was forced by defensive end Jack Sawyer and recovered by cornerback Davison Igbinosun.

The teams would trade punts until the middle of the 4th quarter, with the Wisconsin defensive line putting pressure on McCord and forcing sacks and intentional grounding penalties to bottle up the Ohio State offense.

Several positive carries by TreVeyon Henderson would get the Buckeyes into the redzone, where Kyle McCord would find tight end Gee Scott Jr. on a 14-yard touchdown pass to give Ohio State a 7–0 lead.

Rutgers would respond with their own scoring drive, with Wimsatt completing passes of 35 and 19 yards to receivers Christian Dremel and JaQuae Jackson, the latter of which was a touchdown catch to cut the Ohio State lead to 21–16.

Michigan State would respond by completing two chunk passes to get into Buckeye territory, where a long 56-yard field goal attempt would be missed by kicker Jonathan Kim.

[32] Ohio State's injuries for the game included backup quarterback Devin Brown, linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr., and safety Lathan Ransom.

Ohio State's defense would create another turnover on the next drive, with Jordan Hancock intercepting a pass from Kaliakmanis and giving the Buckeyes great field position again.

Ohio State would respond on its next drive with a 24-yard pass from McCord to Harrison Jr. as well as taking advantage of a facemask penalty by Michigan's Derrick Moore to kick a 43-yard field goal and cut the deficit to 7–3.

McCarthy would complete a 34-yard pass to Loveland to enter the Ohio State redzone, but the Buckeyes were able to force a 38-yard field goal by Turner, which he made to extend the Michigan lead to 27–17.

The drive ended with a 37-yard field goal by Turner to increase the Michigan lead to 30–24 with just over a minute remaining, giving the Buckeye offense one more chance to win the game.