First thoughts: Buckeyes demolish Michigan State, easily pass first road test

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the middle of the first quarter, Ohio State was tied with Michigan State and the hopeful Spartan Stadium crowd was beginning to get rowdy.

By the middle of the third quarter, the Buckeyes fans who made the trip to East Lansing were spelling out O-H-I-O around the half-empty stadium.

Consider the first road test of the season for the Buckeyes passed with ease. After gifting the Spartans a touchdown early to make it a 7-7 game, the Ohio State offense was nearly perfect the rest of the way, and the defense wasn’t much worse. Ohio State finished the first half of its season with a 49-20 stomping of Michigan State, cruising into the idle week with plenty of momentum after its fifth straight game with at least 45 points on the scoreboard.

C.J. Stroud only played the first three quarters, because that’s all the time he and the first-team offense needed to score seven touchdowns — six passing touchdowns — and torch the hapless Spartans (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) defense.

That’s where the breakdown begins for Lettermen Row after the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) went on the road and destroyed Michigan State inside Spartan Stadium. Let’s dive in.

C.J. Stroud makes clear Heisman Trophy statement for Buckeyes

After a shaky performance last week, C.J. Stroud put on a clinic and made a statement Saturday on the road against Michigan State. Stroud led the Ohio State offense to five first-half touchdown drives — all but one of the times the Buckeyes had the ball ended with a touchdown, and the other was his only mistake, a pick-six. Stroud finished the day 21 of 26 passing for 361 yards and six touchdown tosses — tying a school record for the third time in his career — yet another reminder that he is the clear-cut favorite to win the Heisman Trophy as the calendar hits mid-October. And he piloted the Buckeyes incredible offense to another blowout, this one on the road against Michigan State. It’s unlikely to be the final time Stroud destroys an opposing defense this fall as he barrels toward the Heisman Trophy.

Buckeyes have two elite, No. 1 running backs

No Miyan Williams, no problem for Ohio State. TreVeyon Henderson topped 100 yards rushing in the first half and raced past Michigan State defenders all day, piling up yards and making up for lost time he missed when he sat out last week for the Buckeyes, when Williams had an incredible performance. Henderson only carried the ball once in the second half due to an injury, but he still had a big day. With an idle week on the way, Henderson and Williams both have plenty of time to rest up and get healthy for the second half of the season. And when they’re both ready to roll for the Buckeyes, the offense will become that much scarier with two elite, No. 1 tailbacks to hand off to.

Ohio State pass rush heating up, becoming lethal weapon

The Buckeyes cornerbacks continue to struggle at times, even with the return of both starters on the outside. But they’re able to mask the current issues out wide with a dominant pass rush, which is becoming better by the day for Jim Knowles and Ohio State. Mike Hall was the leader, sacking Payton Thorne 2.5 times. But he was far from alone as the Buckeyes racked up four sacks by three different players. Ohio State has struggled on the outside so far this season, uncharacteristically seeing issues from its cornerbacks. But with a pass rush like the Buckeyes have, the cornerback play hasn’t been too much of an issue to date. Don’t expect it to be for a while, either.