LIVE updates: Ohio State versus Minnesota

COLUMBUS — Lettermen Row will have live updates as they happen for Ohio State vs. Minnesota inside Ohio Stadium.

Follow along here.

LETTERMEN LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD GAME THREAD

LIVE UPDATES

10:17, 3Q — Jayden Fielding: 3 for 3 on field goals tonight. He nails another one, this time from 31 yards out to make it 30-0 Buckeyes.

11:30, 3Q — Jordan Hancock is so good. He picks off a pass and nearly takes it back for a touchdown. Then multiple Buckeyes are flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Buckeyes lose 15 yards. Still, it’s their ball.

13:53, 3Q — Touchdown, Ohio State. Kyle McCord throws an easy, wide-open score to Marvin Harrison Jr. It’s 27-0 and nearly time to get the starters to the bench.

14:36, 3Q — Jack Sawyer strips Athan Kaliakmanis on Minnesota’s first play of the second half. J.T. Tuimoloau scooped it up and nearly scored. First and 10 Ohio State from the Minnesota 5.

14:48, 3Q — TreVeyon Henderson takes a handoff 75 yards on the first play of the second half for a touchdown. What a special run by a special player. It’s 20-0.

SECOND QUARTER

HALFTIME — Ohio State 13, Minnesota 0.

1:00, 2Q — Ohio State starting guard Matthew Jones is heading to the locker room. Enokk Vimahi in at guard.

2:07, 2Q — Minnesota punts after Josh Proctor drops an interception that was thrown right to him. He’ll be kicking himself for that one. Buckeyes will now need to go 97 yards in one minute and 55 seconds.

4:51, 2Q — A Jayden Fielding field goal makes it 13-0. That was much shorter; it was converted from 25 yards out.

9:15, 2Q — PJ Fleck elects to punt inside Ohio State territory again, pinning the Buckeyes at the 10-yard line.

13:05, 2Q — A Jayden Fielding field goal makes it 10-0. Impressive from Fielding, who missed from 42 last week. This time, he nails a 47-yard attempt.

Kyle McCord threw two highly questionable passes there on that drive. One should have been picked off.

FIRST QUARTER

0:51, 1Q — Minnesota punts from the Ohio State 40. Ohio State begins its drive at the 13.

4:01, 1Q — The second drive was very bad for Ohio State. Started at the 3, featured a bad holding penalty and resulted in a punt. Minnesota starts at its own 45-yard line.

6:23, 1Q — Another Minnesota punt.

9:22, 1Q — Ohio State forces a very quick three and out from Minnesota, then goes 85 yards in eight plays for an easy touchdown drive. It’s 7-0 Buckeyes.

PREGAME — Ohio State lost the coin toss. Minnesota chooses to take the ball first.

Injury note: DT Mike Hall OUT, two key Buckeyes ‘questionable’

Ohio State defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. is out Saturday. Hall played just 10 defensive snaps against Michigan State last week and didn’t see the field after the second defensive series of the 38-3 win.

Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and backup quarterback Devin Brown, meanwhile, are listed as “questionable.” Eichenberg suffered an arm injury at Rutgers two weeks ago and didn’t play last week against Michigan State. Brown went down with an ankle injury last month against Penn State and hasn’t played since.

Brown, notably, fell down in pregame warmups last week, which Day considered “just a bit of a setback.” The redshirt freshman suited up but didn’t play. That opened the door for true freshman Lincoln Kienholz to make his debut in relief of starter Kyle McCord during the final stages of the blowout win over the Spartans.

NOTE: Safety Josh Proctor, who sat out last week’s game versus Michigan State, is available Saturday against Minnesota. Proctor was sidelined two weeks ago at Rutgers after his heads-up hit and deflection, which led to a game-changing pick-six by Buckeyes cornerback Jordan Hancock.

FULL AVAILABILITY REPORT

Stats to track…

• Of tight ends with at least 20 targets this season, Ohio State’s Cade Stover is 6th nationally in reception percentage (85.0%), according to Pro Football Focus. Stover has caught 34 of his 40 targets this season, per PFF, for 508 yards and four touchdowns.
• Ohio State has held its last five opponents to a combined 16-of-76 (21.1%) on third down. The Buckeyes are now 14th nationally in opponent third down conversion rate (29.5%).
• Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw for a career-high 335 yards against Michigan State while posting a 3:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He completed 77.4% of his passes, including 8-of-11 attempts of 10 or more air yards, per PFF. For the first time this year, he didn’t have a turnover-worthy play and his four PFF big-time throws were a season high.
• Minnesota’s D-Line trio of Jah Joyner, Danny Striggow and Kyler Baugh have combined for 13.5 of the Gophers’ 22 sacks this season.
• Minnesota has posted a 35.3% third down conversion rate this season, which, coming into the week, was tied for 100th nationally.
• Gophers wide receiver Daniel Jackson has logged seven touchdown receptions this year, more than half the team total in that department. He also has nine contested catches this year.

Ohio State vs. Minnesota gambling notes, trends

• The Buckeyes are 6-3-1 against the spread this season. The Buckeyes covered the number last week against Michigan State despite scoring just 38 points.
• Ohio State is 1-2 against the spread the week before the Michigan game under Ryan Day
• The Buckeyes have went over the total just twice in their nine games this season
• Minnesota is 3-8 against the number in its last 11 games
• Minnesota is 2-6 against the number in its last eight road games
• The total has gone over in five of the last seven Minnesota games
• Ohio State is 1-9 against the spread in its last 10 games played in Week 12

Ohio State vs. Minnesota: Game time, details

Ohio State leads the all-time series against Minnesota, 47-7. The Buckeyes have not only won 12 in a row versus the Golden Gophers, but they’ve also won 27 of the last 28 meetings. Their lone loss in that span came in 2000 when Minnesota bested an Ohio State team that finished the year just 8-4 on the outside looking in of the final AP Top 25 poll.

The Buckeyes and Gophers opened the 2021 season against each other. That’s when quarterback C.J. Stroud made his first career start. He struggled initially but ultimately led Ohio State to a 35-point second half and a 45-31 road win. Minnesota, though, was up 21-17 in the third quarter, in large part thanks to running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who finished with 163 yards and two touchdowns in that game. Stroud bounced back to toss four scores, including two in the final frame.

• Time: 4 p.m. E.T.
• TV Channel: Big Ten Network
• Date: Saturday, Nov. 18
• Location: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
• Weather: At kickoff, 50º, 0% chance of rain, winds 7 mph
• The line: Ohio State is a 27.5-point favorite, per FanDuel.
• Over/under: 49.5 points

Series fun fact

Ohio State and Minnesota first met in 1921. The programs faced off twice in the ’20s, and both games resulted in shutouts. First the Buckeyes blanked the Gophers, 27-0, in Columbus. And then, the following year, Minnesota got back at Ohio State, 9-0, in Minneapolis. It wasn’t until 1931, when the teams squared off for the third time, that both the Buckeyes and Gophers got on the board in the same game — Minnesota won that contest, also in Minneapolis, 19-7. Of the Gophers’ seven wins in the series, four took place before 1950.