I am FIRED up.
Ohio State played a game that nobody thought they would play and beat Michigan State by 40 points despite missing 20 players.
Justin Fields proved he is a top-two quarterback in the country, a patchwork offensive line paved the way for 52 points, and a much-maligned defense gave up just 10. It was the perfect storm.
The Short Story
Offense
Justin Fields is a MAN. From running to passing to even blocking, he was doing it all yesterday. Fields finished with 199 passing yards and two scores, a career-high 104 rushing yards with two more scores, and a block on Trey Sermon's long touchdown run that, if nothing else, got this writer to jump out of his seat and yell passionately at the television.
Sermon himself enjoyed his best game as a Buckeye, recording 112 yards and the aforementioned score, while backup quarterback C.J. Stroud galloped 48 yards for his first career touchdown in garbage time to get the Buckeyes over 50 points.
Chris Olave paced the receivers with 139 yards on 10 catches with a score. Garrett Wilson saw his streak of games with 100 yards snapped, but he did still find the end zone. Wyatt Davis also had a reception which was #pretty #cool.
Defense
For a defense that has been... suspect... this year, they showed up yesterday. I don't really care that Michigan State's backup quarterback went 16-25 because they scored 10 points. Whoopie for them!
Haskell Garrett led the way again with three tackles and a pick-six. Shaun Wade had an incredible interception of his own. Marcus Hooker and Ronnie Hickman made numerous open-field tackles.
It was a strong performance by a unit missing its safety and middle linebacker.
The ENERGY AHHHHHHHHHH
As a current student I feel like I am allowed to be proud and obnoxious after yesterday's win.
- Larry Johnson, a first-time head coach, leads the Buckeyes to a 40-point win and then dances in the locker room afterwards
- Ohio State, missing three starters on the offensive line, rushes for 322 yards. Max Wray came out of nowhere to play an almost-flawless right tackle
- Haskell Garrett, a few months removed from being shot in the face, scores his first career touchdown on a batted ball pick-six
- Star quarterback and probable top-five draft choice Justin Fields runs 60 yards down the field to throw a block on a touchdown run
What an effort by the Buckeyes. This team played inspired football for 60 minutes and dominated the game. #VARSITY. I don't want to hear any chirping from the rest of the Big Ten.
Unbelievably proud of this dude right here @maxwray10 Weve been dreaming about moments like this for years. Stepped up when we needed it the most. pic.twitter.com/dkQh77XKpf
— Mitch Rossi (@mitch_rossi5) December 5, 2020
Jim Tressel's Least Favorite Moment
Alright, it wasn't all perfect.
I wonder how Jim would have handled this as head coach. Probably by delegating to Jim Bollman and praying Ohio State would win 13-10 or something.
Anyway, Jim settled in at noon (which is like 5:00pm for normal people since he is usually up before the sun rises) and quickly noticed Harry Miller's snaps.
While noting that Bradley Robinson was doing a solid job on the long snapping, Tressel was not too pleased with Miller's performance (and neither was Miller himself, knowing he can do better).
With presumably one more game as the starter for Miller before Josh Myers can return, it will be interesting to see if Greg Studrawa gets a call from Tress this week.
Biggest Question Going Foward
This isn't going to even be about the quality of the team. There are many people interested in how the Big Ten is going to handle the remainder of Ohio State's season, considering Michigan is now rumored to have too many positive results to be able to play next week's game.
Brett McMurphy, a name Ohio State fans know all too well, did have an encouraging report (at least encouraging to those who want to see the Buckeyes play for a title).
B1G ADs will likely change B1G title game requirements to allow 5-0 Ohio State in title game if it cant play 6th league game, sources told @Stadium. But it wont be an easy decision, source said. A win in B1G title game would all but guarantee Buckeyes a spot in @CFBPlayoff
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 5, 2020
If Ohio State is unable to play Michigan next week, there are a few potential options. Minnesota has been ravaged by COVID-19 cases and while their next opponent is one that the Buckeyes have already played (Nebraska), the conference could still allow a rematch. Maybe there will be a non-conference game thrown together out of nowhere.
Either way, it's going to be an interesting and hopefully fun ride here over the next few weeks. Buckle up. It's the homestretch for #VARSITY.
