COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State football team lined up in the hallway leading down to the court at St. John Arena for the final Skull Session of the season. The Ohio State Marching Band was just finishing up its set: a small-group rendition of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”
The soundtrack didn’t seem to faze the team. The eyes of each player were focused; headphones on, heads bobbing, focused.
Walking onto the court, each player kept their eyes fixed forward, one stop on a Saturday work trip. Gathering around a small podium set up in front of the marching band, redshirt senior defensive tackle Haskell Garrett took the mic.
“All week, they talk about how tough this team is, how good their running back is,” Garrett began “Forget all that.
“One thing we’re going to guarantee you is we’re going to go out there and whoop their ass.”
Bold.
But maybe not.
This is a team that’s shown its confidence, that’s been heralded as the best team in the Big Ten even when both Michigan State and Michigan remained undefeated. With this team, a complete game didn’t seem to be a matter of if, but when.
The Buckeyes had seen it in spurts, from C.J. Stroud’s accuracy to the defensive line’s dominance up front.
But this was different. This was against a team on a quest for a Big Ten title, against a team with a Heisman contender at running back, against a team that just reportedly offered an 10-year, $95-million extension to its head coach.
Ohio State had to put Michigan State in its place, which it did in its final home game of the season.
Stroud took a knee to end the first half, directly one yard behind the line of scrimmage, jogging off the field with a unit that had scored 49 points and recorded 500 yards of offense.
Statement made.
No. 4 Ohio State cemented ideas it already knew to be true with a 56-7 win against No. 7 Michigan State Saturday: that it was the team to beat in the Big Ten, that it is a College Football Playoff contender, that it is not the same team that lost to Oregon in Week 2.
Stroud shows off
C.J. Stroud had never thrown a collegiate pass before he was thrust into the Ohio State starting quarterback job as a redshirt freshman, something that needs to be repeated, especially after his first half of football against Michigan State.
Stroud came into the game knowing the national spotlight would be on, the Heisman head-to-head between him and Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III.
The Heisman race is something Stroud knows he’s a part of. He said that it’s something he’s ‘blessed’ to be the frontrunner for, leading many sports books for the trophy heading into this top-10 matchup.
But the redshirt freshman quarterback doesn’t want to hear about it or talk about it. He just wants to show you what he’s about.
Facing the nation’s worst pass defense statistically in Michigan State, Stroud feasted, breaking the Ohio State record for 17-consecutive completions — a record held by J.T. Barrett in 2017 and Justin FIelds in 2020 — finishing the half with 29 completions on 31 attempts for 393 yards and six touchdowns, tying Barrett’s, Fields’, Dwayne Haskins’ and Kenny Guiton’s record for most touchdowns for an Ohio State quarterback in a single game.
Stroud finished the game with 32 completions on 35 attempts for 432 passing yards and six touchdowns.
Even against a porous Michigan State defense, Stroud’s approach didn’t really change. He was not forcing the ball downfield. He methodically used short-yardage passes to move the offense downfield, spreading the ball between Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson — deemed Earth, Wind and Fire by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.
He used the run game when he needed to, handing the ball off to running back TreVeyon Henderson nine times for 63 yards and Miyan Williams four times for 35 yards and a touchdown.
He gave Olave his moment on senior day, throwing two touchdown receptions to the senior wide receiver, breaking David Boston's program record for most touchdown receptions in Ohio State history.
Stroud was as close to perfect as he could be, a game that had the attention of the entire country, a game that definitely had the attention of the Heisman committee.
Speaking of the Heisman race
Ohio State hadn't seen a running back at Kenneth Walker III’s level so far this season.
The Michigan State junior had run over nearly every opponent he faced this season, recording seven 100-yard games this season, scoring at least one touchdown in eight games this season.
As he prepared for the game, head coach Ryan Day said it would be important for multiple defenders to be in a position to bring Walker down based on his shiftiness and his physicality as a runner.
From the very first play, Ohio State showed how important that would be.
After Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne handed Walker the ball, a swarm of Ohio State defenders came into the backfield. Walker broke his way through tackles, but eventually fell one yard behind the line of scrimmage by Craig Young and Steele Chambers.
Walker showed bursts of speed, recording three rushes for more than 10 yards. But there was no consistency in the Michigan State running game, something the Spartans have not had to deal with all season.
With the 49-point deficit, Walker was taken out of the game after one 1-yard rush in the third quarter, finishing with 25 yards on six carries: his worst performance since his six-carry, 19-yard game as a Wake Forest running back against Clemson Sept. 12, 2020.
Without Walker, Michigan State's offense was one dimensional. Thorne completed 38.9% of his pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown. 11 of Thorne's incompletions were broken up by Ohio State defenders, including two by DE Zach Harrison and CB Denzel Burke.
Ohio State used more pressure than it had against Purdue, recording nine tackles-for-loss and two sacks, spread out between 10 different defenders, including two by Kourt Williams.
Michigan State recorded seven points on 224 yards of offense, averaging 3.1 yards per play.
So what does this mean for Ohio State moving forward?
Like it did going into this game, Ohio State controls its own destiny when it comes to the College Football Playoff. But for the first half of this game, the Buckeyes looked like a national title contender, using the final 30 minutes to eat clock and continue to stop the Michigan State offense.
If there's any performance that should leapfrog Oregon or maybe even Alabama in the College Football Playoff rankings, it's this one.
Ohio State showed off the best offense in the country, showing that its defense can stop one of the more electrifying players in all of college football.
The Buckeyes seem up for the challenge for a Playoff berth.
And in this win against Michigan State, Ohio State showed that it legitimately belongs.
The soundtrack didn’t seem to faze the team. The eyes of each player were focused; headphones on, heads bobbing, focused.
Walking onto the court, each player kept their eyes fixed forward, one stop on a Saturday work trip. Gathering around a small podium set up in front of the marching band, redshirt senior defensive tackle Haskell Garrett took the mic.
“All week, they talk about how tough this team is, how good their running back is,” Garrett began “Forget all that.
“One thing we’re going to guarantee you is we’re going to go out there and whoop their ass.”
Bold.
But maybe not.
This is a team that’s shown its confidence, that’s been heralded as the best team in the Big Ten even when both Michigan State and Michigan remained undefeated. With this team, a complete game didn’t seem to be a matter of if, but when.
The Buckeyes had seen it in spurts, from C.J. Stroud’s accuracy to the defensive line’s dominance up front.
But this was different. This was against a team on a quest for a Big Ten title, against a team with a Heisman contender at running back, against a team that just reportedly offered an 10-year, $95-million extension to its head coach.
Ohio State had to put Michigan State in its place, which it did in its final home game of the season.
Stroud took a knee to end the first half, directly one yard behind the line of scrimmage, jogging off the field with a unit that had scored 49 points and recorded 500 yards of offense.
Statement made.
No. 4 Ohio State cemented ideas it already knew to be true with a 56-7 win against No. 7 Michigan State Saturday: that it was the team to beat in the Big Ten, that it is a College Football Playoff contender, that it is not the same team that lost to Oregon in Week 2.
Stroud shows off
C.J. Stroud had never thrown a collegiate pass before he was thrust into the Ohio State starting quarterback job as a redshirt freshman, something that needs to be repeated, especially after his first half of football against Michigan State.
Stroud came into the game knowing the national spotlight would be on, the Heisman head-to-head between him and Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III.
The Heisman race is something Stroud knows he’s a part of. He said that it’s something he’s ‘blessed’ to be the frontrunner for, leading many sports books for the trophy heading into this top-10 matchup.
But the redshirt freshman quarterback doesn’t want to hear about it or talk about it. He just wants to show you what he’s about.
Facing the nation’s worst pass defense statistically in Michigan State, Stroud feasted, breaking the Ohio State record for 17-consecutive completions — a record held by J.T. Barrett in 2017 and Justin FIelds in 2020 — finishing the half with 29 completions on 31 attempts for 393 yards and six touchdowns, tying Barrett’s, Fields’, Dwayne Haskins’ and Kenny Guiton’s record for most touchdowns for an Ohio State quarterback in a single game.
Stroud finished the game with 32 completions on 35 attempts for 432 passing yards and six touchdowns.
Even against a porous Michigan State defense, Stroud’s approach didn’t really change. He was not forcing the ball downfield. He methodically used short-yardage passes to move the offense downfield, spreading the ball between Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson — deemed Earth, Wind and Fire by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.
He used the run game when he needed to, handing the ball off to running back TreVeyon Henderson nine times for 63 yards and Miyan Williams four times for 35 yards and a touchdown.
He gave Olave his moment on senior day, throwing two touchdown receptions to the senior wide receiver, breaking David Boston's program record for most touchdown receptions in Ohio State history.
Stroud was as close to perfect as he could be, a game that had the attention of the entire country, a game that definitely had the attention of the Heisman committee.
Speaking of the Heisman race
Ohio State hadn't seen a running back at Kenneth Walker III’s level so far this season.
The Michigan State junior had run over nearly every opponent he faced this season, recording seven 100-yard games this season, scoring at least one touchdown in eight games this season.
As he prepared for the game, head coach Ryan Day said it would be important for multiple defenders to be in a position to bring Walker down based on his shiftiness and his physicality as a runner.
From the very first play, Ohio State showed how important that would be.
After Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne handed Walker the ball, a swarm of Ohio State defenders came into the backfield. Walker broke his way through tackles, but eventually fell one yard behind the line of scrimmage by Craig Young and Steele Chambers.
Walker showed bursts of speed, recording three rushes for more than 10 yards. But there was no consistency in the Michigan State running game, something the Spartans have not had to deal with all season.
With the 49-point deficit, Walker was taken out of the game after one 1-yard rush in the third quarter, finishing with 25 yards on six carries: his worst performance since his six-carry, 19-yard game as a Wake Forest running back against Clemson Sept. 12, 2020.
Without Walker, Michigan State's offense was one dimensional. Thorne completed 38.9% of his pass attempts for 158 yards and a touchdown. 11 of Thorne's incompletions were broken up by Ohio State defenders, including two by DE Zach Harrison and CB Denzel Burke.
Ohio State used more pressure than it had against Purdue, recording nine tackles-for-loss and two sacks, spread out between 10 different defenders, including two by Kourt Williams.
Michigan State recorded seven points on 224 yards of offense, averaging 3.1 yards per play.
So what does this mean for Ohio State moving forward?
Like it did going into this game, Ohio State controls its own destiny when it comes to the College Football Playoff. But for the first half of this game, the Buckeyes looked like a national title contender, using the final 30 minutes to eat clock and continue to stop the Michigan State offense.
If there's any performance that should leapfrog Oregon or maybe even Alabama in the College Football Playoff rankings, it's this one.
Ohio State showed off the best offense in the country, showing that its defense can stop one of the more electrifying players in all of college football.
The Buckeyes seem up for the challenge for a Playoff berth.
And in this win against Michigan State, Ohio State showed that it legitimately belongs.
