What They’re Saying Following Ohio State’s Win Over Toledo

Local and national pundits react to the Buckeyes’ 77-21 victory over the Rockets on Saturday.

Ohio State moved to 3-0 on the season following a 77-21 win over Toledo on Saturday evening, the most points the Buckeyes have scored in a game since a 77-10 win over Bowling Green in 2016.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 22-of-27 passes for 367 yards and five touchdown passes, including two apiece to junior wide receiver Julian Fleming and sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr.

Defensively, the Buckeyes were led by redshirt sophomore safety Lathan Ransom with six tackles. Redshirt junior safety Ronnie Hickman also recorded the first takeaway of the season, an interception on the opening drive of the third quarter.

With that said, local and national college football analysts shared some of their thoughts on the game, and BuckeyesNow has compiled some of the best reactions below:

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN

“The Buckeyes' offense is getting healthier and starting to surge, but Wisconsin's stingy and sound defense always provides an accurate gauge of progress. Will Ryan Day opt for a more conservative, grind-it-out approach like he did against Notre Dame or let Stroud and the receivers cut it loose against coordinator Jim Leonhard's crew? Ohio State has won eight straight against Wisconsin, but the Buckeyes will learn more about themselves, especially along the line of scrimmage, from the Big Ten opener.”

Barrett Sallee, CBS Sports

“The No. 3 Buckeyes scored touchdowns on 11 of their 13 drives in the 77-21 win over Toledo, with one of those two empty drives coming at the end of the game. That was against a Toledo team that entered the day tied for No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense (5.0 points per game).”

Bill Bender, The Sporting News

“Any questions about the offense? Ohio State scored TDs on its first seven possessions in a 77-21 blowout of Toledo. The Buckeyes rolled up 763 yards of total offense. Stroud had just two incompletions in the first half. Harrison (102 receiving yards, two TDs) continued his breakout season. Emeka Egbuka (116 yards, one TD) Jayden Ballard (113 yards, one TD) and tight end Cade Stover (83 yards) emerged as threats in the passing game. Dallan Hayden (17 carries, 108 yards, one TD) is another option in the backfield.

“The defense gave up a few chunk plays to the Rockets. The non-conference slate is over; conference play opens with yet another prime-time opportunity against perennial Big Ten West power Wisconsin. Day has this team focused on the present, even if our next team is always in view.”

David M. Hale, ESPN

“Stroud had as many touchdowns (five) on Saturday as he had incompletions. He threw for 367 yards, averaged nearly 14 yards per throw and saw three different Buckeyes receivers top 100 yards.”

Marcus Hartman, Dayton Daily News

“Ohio State forced its first turnovers of the season. After 10 quarters without a takeaway, Hickman stepped in front of a pass over the middle and picked it off to end Toledo’s first possession of the third quarter.

“Ohio State turned it into points when Mitch Rossi scored from a yard out four plays later. In the fourth quarter, Javontae Jean-Baptiste forced a fumble Palaie Gaoteote recovered for takeaway No. 2. The Buckeyes also had nine tackles for loss, including three sacks.”

Mitch Stacy, Associated Press

“The placement of many of Stroud’s passes just couldn’t be defensed, and a few of the throws and catches were spectacular. The bit of rust the third-year quarterback might have brought into the season is gone. He showed why he was a Heisman finalist last season.”

Austin Ward, Dotting The Eyes

“There is simply no denying it: When Mike Hall is not on the field, it's obvious right now that the Silver Bullets aren't the same. The sophomore defensive tackle was a full participant in warmups and was dressed for the game on Saturday, but the left shoulder injury that knocked him out of the Arkansas State win had to still be lingering since he didn't play a single snap.

“Ohio State was able to generate some pressure from the edges, and aside from some quarterback scrambles was mostly able to stay solid against the ground game. But the productivity dropped off precipitously without Hall on the interior, where guys like Taron Vincent and Jerron Cage didn't even register a single tackle. In short order, Hall has become close to indispensable to the national-title hopes for Ohio State -- and resting him against Toledo was probably the best way to protect those long-term interests.”

Mike Wachsman, NBC4

“While Stroud generated most of the headlines, the Buckeyes ground game did its fair share of heavy lifting. OSU had four rushing touchdowns, all in the red zone, including an old-fashioned fullback dive from Mitch Rossi early in the third quarter.

“OSU averaged 6.4 yards per carry on 44 runs and rolled up 281 yards on the ground. Hayden became the first Buckeyes back this season to eclipse 100 yards, netting 108 yards on 17 carries. He also scored his first career touchdown and got a lot of second half action after an injury to TreVeyon Henderson and first-half excellence from Miyan Williams.

“The Buckeyes had four red zone rushing scores – one from Henderson, one from Hayden, one from Egbuka on a jet sweep and one from Rossi.

“Hayden getting a lot of work this early in the season showed that the Buckeyes aren’t terribly thin t running back. He was expected to redshirt in 2022, but an offseason injury to Evan Pryor thrust him up the depth chart. When Henderson left the game against Toledo, the burden was on Williams for the first half, then Hayden came in to finish off the Rockets for the bulk of the second half. Walk-on T.C. Caffey even got into the act, gaining 57 yards on six carries.”

Phil Harrison, BuckeyesWire

"We say it every week, but man does Ohio State have an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver. Years from now, we are going to look back on this period of time and marvel at the amount of talent that ran through the tunnel at the position.

"Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn’t targeted much, but that didn’t matter because Fleming and Harrison flashed some pretty remarkable highlights, catching two touchdowns a piece. We also saw Egbuka have a day, and even got a glimpse of the talent on the bench when Ballard took one to the house. What a room, and with all of them healthy, I don’t know how you stop it."

Brian White, The Columbus Dispatch

“When a guy goes from linebacker to tight end to linebacker and back to tight end, the assumption is that he's merely a guy Ohio State hopes to become a typical run-game thumper. And Stover indeed does well in the tough-guy part of the job.

“But Stover has also become a receiving weapon. He had three receptions for 83 yards Saturday and was wide, wide, wide open for a short touchdown pass but was overthrown on one of Stroud's few mistakes during the game. On one catch on the sideline, Stover showed great hands and ability to stay inbounds.

“Flashing Stover this week was Ryan Day's chance to warn upcoming opponents that while they're figuring out how to stop all of those great receivers, don't take your eyes off big No. 8.”

-----

Be sure to check out our new message boards, Buckeye Forums. We'd love to have you part of the conversation during the season.

-----

You may also like:

Former Ohio State WR Garrett Wilson Scores First NFL Touchdown

Ohio State Remains No. 3 AP, Coaches Polls Following Win Over Toledo

Photos From Ohio State's 77-21 Win Over Toledo

Ohio State TE Cade Stover Becoming Weapon In Passing Game

Ohio State Treating Injuries With "An Abundance Of Caution”

Instant Analysis From Ohio State's Amazing Performance Against Toledo

-----

Be sure to stay locked into BuckeyesNow all the time!

Join the BuckeyesNow community!
Subscribe to the BuckeyesNow YouTube channel
Follow Andrew Lind on Twitter: @AndrewMLind
Follow BuckeyesNow on Twitter: @BuckeyesNowSI
Follow BuckeyesNow on Instagram: @BuckeyesNowSI

Like and follow BuckeyesNow on Facebook!