Game 11 Recap: Ohio State 37 – Minnesota 3

Posted on November 18, 2023 by Buckeye50_Josh Leave a comment

Recap

hio State took the field at home the final time this season with only Minnnesota standing in their way between 11-0 and going into Ann Arbor next week to face off against That Team Up North. With all of the investigation that is going on for the Wolverines, and this game being the last home game for 21 seniors, and a good chunk of junoirs, including Marvin Harrison Jr, there was some concern about if Ohio State would be focused and they put those notions to bed early. Even though they only winning 13-0 going into halftine, there was never a point in this game where Ohio State was in any trouble, and that was emphasized with the two quick touchdowns at the start of the third quarter, and put the Gophers away 37-3.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he “might have” watched some of his archrival’s game prior to his own game, but once Buckeyes took the field all attention was on Minnesota.

“Our team did a great job of staying focused this week,” Day said. “Not easy to do for anybody, but we did stay in the moment and played well. But the moment we got in that locker room, it’s on to next week.”

The goal for this game was to keep healthy for next week, and that meant some touch decisions for Day who help players back to keep them healthy, and that included captain Tommy Eichenberg, who Day stated in his post game show almost ended in a fight, but he won.

Now that Ohio State is 11-0, and second the game clock hit 00:00 on the scoreboard, all focus can now be spent on The Game.

Kyle McCord finished the game completing 66.7% of his passes, and threw for 212 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Lincoln Keinholz was able to come into the game in the 4th quarterm and had 2 passes for 7 yards.

TreVeyon Henderson could have stopped playing after his 75 uard touchdown to start the third quearter, but he played enough to keep loose, and finished with 146 yards on 15 carries and 2 touchdowns. Dall Hayden was the second leading rusher with 8 carries for 34 yards. Chip Trayanum and Evan Pryor combined for 10 carried for 50 yards.

Eneka Egbuka flashed his old self after some concern in last weeks game, and led the team with 5 catches for 83 yards. Marvin Harrison Jr has a ho-hum game with 3 cartches for 30 yards, but his touchdown continues his consecutive game streak this season with a touchdown catch. Cade Stover was the other touchdown grabber with 4 catches for 26 yards, and his came at the start of the 4th quarter which gave the Buckeyes a 37-0 lead at that time.

Turning Point

The Buckeyes were never in a position this game where the outcome was in Jeopardy, but only getting 13 points in the first half when they had 2 redzone possessions that were converted into field goals instead of touchdowns, that did give the offense some worry. All concerns though were resolved when TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 75 yard touchdown on the first play in the third quarter, and then the defense forced a fumble which led to a McCord pass to Harrison to get 14 points in 1 minute and 7 seconds of game time, and a 27-0 lead.

Stars of the Game

Emeka Egbuka. Even though he was not able to get a touchdown, he lead the team in receiving, and looked to be back to his old form with creating plays in space, and showing off his speed on the shuffle passes in the backfield that broke for long gains. It is good to have a healthy weapon going into next week.

TreVeyon Henderson. We might be seeing Henderson’s version of the Ezekial Elliott stretch in 2014, and this is the time of year the Buckeyes need a game wrecker at running back after which has been a concern since Trey Sermon exploded at the end of 2020.

Ohio State Defense. The biggest concern point going into this season was the defense after they have up too many big plays at the end of the year last season against Michigan and Georgia. This year, they have been the most consistent unit, and even without several key players, they still shut down the Minnesota offense to only 159 total yards, 1o first downs, and forced 2 turnovers. We need the defense playing at its peak next week.

Playoff Picture

The objective is to end each week 1-0, and the Buckeyes have done that 11 straight times this season, and going into next week to try and make it 12 in a row. They were knocked down 1 spot after Georgia handled Ole Miss, and after beating a ranked Tennessee team on the road, I dont see them moving from their spot. Ohio State and Michigan should stay put where they are, and the only thing that matters is winning next week. Beating Michigan would put Ohio State in a Big Ten Championship game against Iowa, who clinched the Big Ten West today, and a win in that game gives them a chance to be no lower than 2nd place. Everything this team has worked for this season is now here, and all they have to do is take it.

Looking Ahead

Ohio State (11-0) will travel to Ann Arbor, MI to battle against Michigan (11-0) at 12pm on Fox. Both Big Noon Kickoff and College GameDay will be on site for the top 3 showdown.

Minnesota (5-6) will head back home to host Wisconsin (5-5) at 3:30pm on FS1.

Photo Credit: 10tv

tagged with Football, Kyle McCord, Marvin Harrison Jr, Michigan State, Ohio State, Ryan Day, TreVeyon Henderson