Mayan Williams rushed for 125 yards on only nine carries and scored a touchdown on a seventy-one-yard run, while Chris Olavc finished with over one hundred yards receiving.
Haskell Garrett grabbed a Tanner Morgan fumble and ran 32 yards for a third-quarter score to give Ohio State a ten-point lead that they would never lose.
Ohio State moves to 1-0 overall as well as in the Big Ten and will face their sternest non-conference test next Saturday against the visiting Oregon Ducks.
Olentangy Offerings
1: C.J. Stroud struggled in the first half but was much improved in the second half when he threw all four of his touchdown passes.
Stroud looked much more confident in the pocket and the shortest of his four scoring passes was 38 yards, although the score to Treveyon Henderson was a short grab and go that Henderson turned into a score.
2: Full credit to the offensive line that gave Stroud plenty of time to throw.
The offensive line didn't allow a sack and opened holes for a running game that finished with 201 yards on only 26 rushing attempts.
3: There will things to clean up such as Dallas Gant's roughing the passer penalty that negated a Josh Proctor interception that resulted in a drive continuing with a Gopher touchdown.
4: Mayan Williams started the game off with a 71-yard touchdown gallop and finished the game with 125 yards on nine carries.
I don't have any concerns about the running game because...
5: As good as Williams was, he likely won't be the starter for a lot longer as Treveyon Henderson is the real deal.
Henderson carried the ball twice, one rush for ten yards and the other for five, but the speed and acceleration that he showed on his reception for a touchdown was unreal.
Normal humans don't move like that- Henderson is very special.
6: Give Minnesota credit for a solid game plan that took some time for the Buckeyes to adjust to.
Minnesota was lining up seven offensive linemen in an attempt to push OSU off the line and allow their best weapon in Mohamed Ibrahim to control the clock.
Ibrahim left in the second half with an injury but finished with 163 yards and two touchdowns on thirty carries.
7: The talk of the off-season was the OSU wide receiving talent and yet only five Buckeyes caught passes and two (Treveyon Henderson and Jeremy Ruckert) aren't wideouts.
I wonder if there are enough footballs to go around for all these players?
8: The deal breaker was the strip of Tanner Morgan by Zach Harrison and rumble to the end zone by Haskell Garrett.
It only increased the lead to ten but after that play, you never felt the Gophers had what it takes to pull this one out.
9: Zach Harrison is a player waiting to bust out and I think he's sitting on a huge season.
Harrison has all the athletic ability to dominate offensive lines but hasn't done so yet.
I think he'll do so this season because if he does, he'll be a first-rounder in the 2022 draft.
10) Minnesota took their best shot and did some good things against the Ohio State defense.
Next week against a more explosive offense in Oregon should be an extreme test for Ohio State.
However, you plan on scoring at least 50 points if you want to beat this team- the offense is going to be that good.
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