Stroud scorches Spartans
C.J. Stroud lit up No. 7 Michigan State early and gave his coach the rare luxury of being able to let his mind wander to next week’s showdown with Michigan.
Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes — all in the first half — as No. 4 Ohio State bolted out to a 49-point halftime lead on the way to a startling 56-7 rout Saturday that eliminated the visiting Spartans from the Big Ten East race.
Next up, the annual rivalry game and hatefest against No. 6 Michigan that might end up determining the winner of the division.
“We’ve got everything riding on this thing coming up right around the corner,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “And I got to tell you, the game wasn’t even over yet and I was thinking about it. There’s just so much going on here.”
Day should savor this one for at least a minute.
Stroud, who threw his first collegiate football pass less than three months ago, was 32-for-35 for 432 yards against the Spartans’ sketchy pass defense, which had allowed more yards through the air than any in major college football.
The redshirt freshman completed 17 consecutive passes, setting an Ohio State record, and positioned himself as perhaps the Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the championship stretch of the season.
“My O-line did a great job the whole game,” he said. “I was back there chilling, in a sense.”
This is Stroud’s third 400-yard game in 10 career starts and his fourth game with at least five touchdown passes.
“You can see our capability,” Day said. “We’re playing really good football, clean football. We have a high ceiling.”
The Buckeyes scored on all seven first-half possession before backing off.
“We got blasted,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said. “We were not able to eliminate the explosive plays on defense and were not able to execute on offense.”
Michigan State Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker III, the nation’s leading rusher, had just six carries for 25 yards.
Wisconsin 35, Nebraska 28
Braelon Allen rushed for 228 yards and three touchdowns — including a tiebreaking 53-yarder with 3:50 remaining — to help the No. 15 Badgers outlast the visiting Cornhuskers for their seventh consecutive victory.
Nebraska drove to Wisconsin’s 11-yard line in the final minute but ended up losing the ball on downs at the 21. Faion Hicks broke up Adrian Martinez’s fourth-down pass to Zavier Betts with four seconds left.
Michigan 59, Maryland 18
Mike Sainristil made a onehanded catch in the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown, Hassan Haskins scored two TDs of his own, and the No. 6 Wolverines did their part to raise the stakes of next weekend’s showdown with Ohio State by routing the host Terrapins.
Penn State 28, Rutgers 0
Freshman quarterback Christian Veilleux revved up the host Nittany Lions’ offense with three touchdowns. Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington and Malick Meiga caught TD passes and Keyvone Lee ran for a score for Penn State, which snapped a two-game skid at Beaver Stadium.
Minnesota 35, Indiana 14
Ky Thomas ran for 105 yards and a career-high two scores, Tanner Morgan threw two touchdown passes and the visiting Gophers scored 14 points the final 46 seconds of the first half to pull away from the Hoosiers.