Offensive Observations From Ohio State's Annihilation of Michigan State

C.J. Stroud throws six first half touchdowns as the Buckeyes massacre the Spartans 56-7

Author:
Spencer German
Nov 20, 2021 3:47 PM EST

With first place in the Big Ten East on the line, the fourth-ranked Buckeyes quickly put to bed any conference championship dreams the Spartans may have had, putting up a 49-point first half and cruising to a 56-7 win that will certainly leave the College Football Playoff Committee at the very least consider moving Ohio State ahead of Oregon in the rankings.

It was the definition of total domination by this high-flying OSU offense, and as great as that group looked in blowout wins over Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana and even Purdey a week ago, this was performance was their Sistine Chapel.

Here are the offensive observations from the blowout win over MSU and don't miss the defensive observations here.

Heisman Statement

This game was advertised as a potential Heisman defining matchup with C.J. Stroud on one sideline for the Bucks and Kenneth Walker opposite for Michigan State and right out of the gate, Stroud made a statement for his Heisman resume.

Handling the ball first, the redshirt freshman marched the Buckeyes on a 12-play, 86-yard drive, capped off by a 23-yard strike to Chris Olave for a touchdown and it was arguably his best series of the season. On the drive, the Buckeyes signal-caller completed nine of his 10 passes for 76 yards and threw an absolute dime to Olave for the score. See for yourself...

Oh, he followed it up with a 77-yard BOMB to Garrett Wilson on the very next series, which pretty much set the town for how this game was going to go. After the first quarter, he was 16-of-17, for 241 yards and three touchdowns. His second incompletion didn't come until the 8:46 mark of the second quarter and during that span, set a new school record for consecutive completions with 17 in a row. When he finally took a seat midway through the third quarter, he had completed 91-percent of his passes, had thrown for over 400 yards (432 to be exact) for the fourth time this season and tied a school record for most TD passes in a single game.

It's safe to say the rest of the Heisman candidates are chasing Stroud after this outing. How he plays next week against that team up North and in a Big Ten title game will determine if he brings the trophy back to Columbus for the first time since Troy Smith in 2009.

Picking up where they left off

It's been discussed ad nauseam by now so everyone knows it: when Ohio State's offense is clicking, they can beat any team in the country. And if that's true, the rest of college football is on notice because this offense is officially back to clicking.

Over the last two games, the Buckeyes have scored a touchdown on 16 of their last 23 drives. Against Purdue, OSU found pay dirt on eight of their 11 series. They picked up where they left off against Michigan State, ending all but one of their first-half series with a touchdown – kneeling to send it to halftime on their final possession. By the end of the game, they crossed the plane eight out of 12 drives. That is the definition of domination. Pray for that team up north next week if this keeps up.

Pick your poison

Over the last few weeks, it was easy to put your finger on one wideout from this three-headed monster receiving corps to highlight. This week though each of them really had moments to shine.

For the fourth time in five games, Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the team in receptions, piling up 10 of them for 105 yards and one touchdown.

Chris Olave had his best performance of the season hauling in the opening touchdown of the game to set the tone for the avalanche that followed. He ultimately finished with seven receptions for a team-high 140 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which set a new school record for career receiving touchdowns.

Then there's Garrett Wilson, who wasn't too far behind Olave with seven receptions for 126 yards and two scores of his own. The Buckeyes embarrassment of riches was on full display today.

Master Moment

With things well in hand in a game that it seemed like everyone scored, fans were treated to a special moment in the fourth quarter when senior running back Master Teague III punched in the final score of the day for Ohio State. This season certainly hasn't gone the way Teague planned as he's battled injuries and a loaded running back room but he hasn't once complained. To score the final touchdown in The Shoe this season, while being serenaded to chants of "TEEEEAAAAGUE!" certainly made for a nice moment.

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