Buckeyes spank Spartans at home in record-setting Day
Ohio State wide receiver Garrett Wilson celebrates his 77-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter against Michigan State. Photo by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
What’s the best way to prove you are indeed the best team in your league if not the entire nation?
Pound the snot out of a team that thinks they belong.
And that’s exactly what the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) did to the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans (9-2, 6-2) on Saturday afternoon in Ohio Stadium by a final score of 56-7.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said he was proud of his team and was impressed by their performance.
“Proud of the way our guys played, I thought we played strong,” he said. “Up front, protection was good. I thought the receivers were really crisp in their route running (and) made more plays. I thought (running back) TreVeyon (Henderson) ran really well and I thought (quarterback) C.J. (Stroud) was really strong.”
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said he felt his team had a good week of practice and were ready to play.
"In terms of our preparation, what we had back in East Lansing, we felt very good about it, in terms of going through our process, the film work, the focus and the effort that we gave in practice. It was very sharp,” he said according to a quote from Stephen Brooks of 247Sports. “So, I didn’t have any issues with our preparation or our focus during the week."
Stroud said they had a great week of practice and pretty much saw in the game from Michigan State’s defense everything they practiced for.
“Really everything we thought we were going to get, we kind of got so it was good just to come out there and execute at a high level. A lot of the things (defensively from Michigan State) I could kind of see it before it happened, thanks to preparation and things of that sort.”
Stroud was on his way to a record-setting day until he was pulled a little more than halfway through the third quarter but still threw for 432 yards, six touchdowns and completed an eye-popping 32 out of 35 passes for 91 percent complete. He was sacked twice but had no interceptions. He was 29-of-31 for 393 yards and had thrown all six of his touchdowns by the end of the first half.
And to Day’s point, the Big 3 had another big day as they torched the country’s worst passing defense for 449 yards through the air, the second-most amount of yards in a single game the Spartans have allowed this year.
Wide receivers Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba each had another 100-yard performance which was only the second time in school history that three separate receivers each had over 100 yards receiving in the same game. The first time was earlier this year against Oregon.
Smith-Njigba led the team with 10 catches and had 105 yards with one touchdown. Olave led the team with 140 yards on seven catches, two of them for scores. Wilson also had seven catches and two touchdowns and finished second with 126 yards.
And Olave officially put his personal stamp in the record books with his two TD catches to become OSU’s career receiving touchdown leader with 35, beating David Boston’s record of 34, which Boston set after his junior season in 1998.
Stroud praised each of the Big 3 and said their athletic abilities have made his job easier.
“Chris being a veteran, the old guy in the room, he brings a sense of leadership but also, he’s a great player. He (has) tremendous speed, his routes are amazing, he’s always really beats his man and he’s great with yards after the catch. Garrett, I mean, he’s just, of course, a freak athlete. He can do anything he wants to. And give credit for him, he’s a great blocker as well when other guys get a bubble (screen) and things of that sort. I mean, he’s a great player to play with. And Jaxon, he’s the best route runner I’ve ever played with in my life. He’s just really crisp, really clean and his body language and the things that he does with his body is crazy. He jukes people out of their socks on the regular which is really cool to see.”
Not to be outdone, Ohio State’s defense also played a near flawless game by pressuring Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne and stifling their prolific rushing attack by limiting running back Kenneth Walker III to only 25 yards on six carries, both season-lows for the Heisman hopeful. Thorne finished 14-of-36 for a season-low 38 percent complete with 158 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked twice but threw no interceptions.
The white-washing was on when the Buckeyes scored 21 points in the first quarter while holding the Spartans scoreless. Their game-opening drive ended on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Olave as Olave split two defenders in the end zone and Stroud put it on the money. The TD catch tied Olave at the time with Boston’s all-time record.
After forcing the Spartans to punt on their opening drive, the Buckeyes struck again quickly on a four-play, 88-yard drive that was capped by a 77-yard strike from Stroud to Wilson as Wilson burnt double coverage up the right side and Stroud put it squarely in his hands. Wilson then raced untouched for the remaining 40 yards on his way to the score.
Michigan State would get to OSU’s 29 on their second drive but was squandered when kicker Matt Coghlin’s 46-yard attempt went wide right.
Ohio State would capitalize on that when their third possession was another quick four-play drive that went 71 yards and was finished when Stroud hooked up with Olave again, this time from 43 yards out as Olave got over the top of double coverage and Stroud hit the senior for his record-breaking TD catch.
That was with 2:31 left in the first quarter and the rout was on as OSU held a commanding 21-0 lead.
However, the quarter wouldn’t come to an end without more misfortune for the Spartans as Buckeye safety Ronnie Hickman plowed his helmet into MSU running back Jordon Simmons’ arms and caused him to cough up the football with under a minute to play.
It got uglier for Sparty in the second quarter when the Scarlet and Gray scored four more unanswered touchdowns to take a 49-0 lead into the locker room.
Their next four second quarter drives ended in scores starting with Stroud hitting receiver Julian Fleming on a 4-yard strike within the first minute of the quarter that gave Fleming his first touchdown in a scarlet and gray uniform.
After forcing the Spartans to punt for a second time, OSU’s fifth-straight score came on running back Miyan Williams’s one-yard run for the team’s first rushing TD of the game.
Michigan State was yet again forced to punt and the Buckeyes yet again put it in the end zone when Stroud hooked up with Wilson for a second time, with this score coming on a 12-yard slant in the end zone where Wilson once again split two Spartan defenders to get wide open.
Another Sparty punt resulted in another Buckeye score as Stroud hit a wide open Smith-Njigba from five yards out as JSN made a move at the goal line that literally made two Spartans trip over each other and Stroud again found another wide open receiver for a touchdown.
At the half, Ohio State had rolled up 500 total yards to Michigan State’s 116.
After that, Day called off the dogs and began playing his second and third-stringers early in the third quarter even though some guys apparently didn’t want to sit.
“Full disclosure, at one point, we wanted to get guys some rest in the second half, we just thought it was the right thing to do. We’re up seven touchdowns and I felt like it was smart to do going into next week. And, you know, the guys wanted to keep playing and I had to talk some guys off the ledge a little bit because they were upset about not getting back in the game. But it was the right thing to do and it wasn’t even a thought at all about taking them out of the game.”
One of those guys was Henderson, who ended his day with nine carries for 63 yards and was pulled after the first drive of the second quarter.
Backup quarterback Kyle McCord came in with 5:34 to play in the third quarter and went four-of-eight for 17 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
And true freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers got in for the last two plays of the game in his first official action as a Buckeye, which were handoffs to walk-on running back Robert Cope.
Running back Master Teague led the Buckeyes with 21 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown.
Williams ended with four carries for 35 yards and a score.
Michigan State’s leading receiver, Jayden Reed, was held to season-lows of two catches and 28 yards. He didn’t score.
Even with the blowout win, Day said he and his guys are still striving for greatness.
“You can see our capability when we’re playing really good football and clean football that we certainly have a high ceiling. We’re still striving towards greatness and it’s bringing it every week and playing really well every week.”
Ohio State’s next game is this upcoming Saturday at No. 6 Michigan (10-1, 7-1) for the Big Ten East Division title and a conference championship game appearance on the line. Kickoff is set for noon and will air on FOX.