My Thoughts.....Michigan State

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes went on the road for the first time this season and wasted no time in dominating Michigan State on both sides of the ball in a 49-20 victory that was even more lopsided than the 29-point margin would indicate. After tossing a pick-six, C.J. Stroud threw only three incompletions as he connected on 80 percent of his throws for 361 yards and six touchdowns. He joins Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins, J.T. Barrett, and Kenny Guiton in that category, but Stroud is the only one who has done it three times in his career. Marvin Harrison Jr. hauled in three scoring tosses, including the first touchdown of the day in which he was well-covered and still made the catch. After the pick-six, Stroud came right back and hit a wide-open Emeka Egbuka for 69 yards to paydirt, part of his five receptions. Julian Fleming turned in four catches and a touchdown of his own. At the end of the day,  C.J. Stroud has become the clear leader in the race for the Heisman. TreVeyon Henderson carried the bulk of the running load, with the absence of Miyan Williams, with 118 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Dallan Hayden showed he is capable of carrying the load when he came in after Henderson was hobbled with a foot injury, contributing 70 yards, making several tough runs through the MSU line.

                Defensively, Mike Hall Jr. played his best game since the Notre Dame opener, getting 2.5 sacks and was part of the defensive effort that held the Spartans to just seven yards rushing. Michigan State picked up just one first down on the ground and the Ohio State defense held them to six three-and-outs. Tommy Eichenberg led the way with eight tackles and a sack and Ronnie Hickman was all over the field in the secondary as he usually is, racking up five tackles. Michigan State managed only one sustained drive against the Ohio State starting defensive unit as many younger players got to see the field such as Tanner McCalister and DeaMonte Trayanum, who had three tackles a piece. Lathan Ransom played his best game in a while with his three tackles and his interception in the end zone put a halt to Michigan State’s first drive.

                The Buckeyes are off next week, and it comes at an ideal time. The week off should help TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, and others heal up from their nagging injuries and hopefully Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be able to come back for the next game against Iowa. For the “bye week,” I’ll come out with a post on where the Buckeyes are and where they need to improve.