No. 3 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) took advantage of three Minnesota (3-3, 0-3) turnovers and two Gopher missed field goals to post a 30-14 win in Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
The Buckeyes came into the game as heavy favorites over the Gophers but were not able to put any distance between themselves and Minnesota until the late stages of the game. Ohio State held a slim 17-14 lead at the half despite being outrushed by the Gophers.
What the Buckeyes lacked in a rushing attack was however more than made up for by the passing game. The Ohio State defense gave up 14 points in the first half but shut out the Gophers in the second half thanks partially to two missed Minnesota field goals, one from 32 yards out, the other from 48.
Minnesota was able to hold the ball for long drives to use up clock and keep the OSU offense off the field. The Gophers proved to be difficult to run on for an OSU offensive line that struggled all day in the running game and had problems with pass protection as well in the second half. You could make a case the Minnesota won the battle of the line of scrimmage, and in most football games that would lead to victory, but the OSU passing game was more than an equalizer.
Junior quarterback Dwayne Haskins had his second-straight passing game of over 400 yards and he also threw for three touchdowns with no interceptions. His first TD strike went for 42 yards to wide receiver Terry McLaurin to put OSU up 10-7 in the first half. He later hit H-back K. J. Hill with a 36-yard completion to make the score 17-14 at the half.
His third touchdown pass came on OSU’s final possession of the game, a 27-yard scoring toss to Hill. The Ohio State offense also put two field goals on the board in the second half to move the halftime score from 17-14 to 23-14, but the game remained in doubt late into the fourth quarter.
Minnesota’s second-to-last possession began at its own two-yard line trailing 23-14. The Gophers moved 67 yards to the OSU 31, but stalled there. A 48-yard field goal missed badly to the right, pretty much ending the game. OSU added the final touchdown pass to Hill with just 2:15 remaining on the game clock to make the game look less close than it really was.
Minnesota’s turnovers were very costly to their cause. The first came on an interception by Kendall Sheffield that led to an OSU field goal to put the Buckeyes up 3-0. Their second turnover, a fumble late in the first half, led directly to OSU’s second touchdown of the half on the touchdown pass to Hill. The final turnover came in the second half on an interception by Isaiah Pryor at the Minnesota two-yard line.
For the game, Haskins was 33-of-44 passing for 412 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Ohio State was held under 100 yards rushing for the first time since their 31-0 loss to Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoffs.
Mike Weber was the leading Buckeye ball carrier with 51 yards rushing on 13 carries. Minnesota ran for 178 yards and put up 396 total yards of offense against a banged up OSU defense that struggled most the day but helped itself with turnovers and was helped by the two missed Minnesota field goals.