A grade card on Ohio State’s 77-21 win over Toledo:
OFFENSE: A+
Ohio State’s 763 yards of total offense was the second-highest total in school history. Quarterback C.J. Stroud was 22 of 27 for 367 yards and five touchdowns. Some of his passes were NFL-caliber passes thrown to future NFL receivers who made some great catches.
Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jayden Ballard all had more than 100 yards receiving. Julian Fleming had two receiving touchdowns in his first action of the season.
Even some of the non-starters produced big numbers. Freshman Dallan Hayden rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries. TC Caffey had a 49-yard touchdown run, Mitch Rossi scored a touchdown on his first career carry and Ballard had a 72-yard touchdown catch.
DEFENSE: B-
OSU’s defense limited Toledo to 307 yards and gave up only seven points in the final 34 minutes of the game. After not getting a takeaway in wins over Notre Dame and Arkansas State, the Buckeyes had two of them against Toledo — an interception by Ronnie Hickman and a forced fumble by Javontae Jean-Baptiste.
On the down side, OSU had trouble containing mobile quarterback Dequan Finn. It sacked him three times but there were several times when it appeared the defense was closing in on him for a sack and he escaped to do some damage. Ohio State cornerbacks were burned for a 50-yard touchdown pass and a 40-yard touchdown throw by Finn.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Ohio State punter Jesse Mirco’s night consisted of only one punt but it was a good one, which pinned Toledo on its own two-yard line. Then the Rockets went three and out. A short punt set the Buckeyes up at Toledo’s 39-yard line and four plays later they had a touchdown on a pass from Stroud to Egbuka.
OVERALL: A
Ohio State scored 77 points and and had 763 yards of offense on a night when TreVeyon Henderson was on the field for only eight plays and Jaxon Smith-Njigba played limited minutes in his return from an injury in the opener against Notre Dame.
The defense wasn’t perfect but the offense was special.
