Minnesota leads No. 4 Ohio State 14-10 at halftime. The Gophers got off to a slow start to the game, falling behind the Buckeyes before a fourth-down decision changed the first half's momentum. After punting on fourth-and-two earlier in the half, Minnesota faced a fourth-and-one decision at its 29. The Gophers made the aggressive decision this time, and Mohamed Ibrahim broke loose for a 56-yard run. That set up the Gophers first touchdown, and after forcing a quick punt from the Buckeyes on the next possession, they kept their foot on the gas and scored again. And that's how the reigning Big Ten champions find themselves in a hole early.
New quarterback C.J. Stroud has looked shaky thus far. He's completed only eight of his first 14 passes and has overthrown a few open receivers. The Ohio State offense has been inefficient the entire game so far. If you remove Miyan Williams' 71-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, the Buckeyes have managed only 114 yards on their other 25 plays. Minnesota RB Mohamed Ibrahim has 114 yards rushing on 19 carries against an Ohio State defense that was excellent against the run last season. C.J. Stroud saw plenty of what Ohio State's offense was capable of during his redshirt year when he sat behind Justin Fields. And though seeing may be believing, there's a chance in fact, a likelihood that the experiential nature of one of the nation's most dynamic offenses exceeded anything Stroud may have seen or expected. The redshirt freshman quarterback got off to a rough start against Minnesota to open his and the Buckeyes' 2021 campaign, often overthrowing his receivers and completing just six passes on 14 attempts for 53 yards and one interception in the first half. That lackluster early performance by Stroud was enough for Minnesota to capitalize on as quarterback Tanner Morgan connected with Texas A&M transfer Dylan Wright to get the Golden Gophers on the board before handing the ball off to last year's top running back in the conference Mohamed Ibrahim for a 1-yard touchdown to give Minnesota a 14-10 halftime lead. Morgan also struggled under center, though there was more of a totality to his woes. He was able to string together a few big throws when he needed to but he wasn't consistent enough to really turn them into a catalyst for the offense and they didn't amount to much of anything as he went 14-for-25 with 205 yards and a touchdown. With Morgan struggling, the Minnesota offense unsurprisingly flowed through star running back Ibrahim who totaled 163 yards on 30 carries, finding the endzone twice in the process. And even though it was expected that he'd have a breakout game, Ohio State's defense didn't seem to have an answer, especially when he rushed for 56 yards on a fourth-and-1 to set up Minnesota's first score of the game. Ibrahim's big night was cut short however after he went down with 37 seconds left in the third quarter, and ultimately didn't return, sporting a boot on his foot for the remainder of the game. Ohio State's second half told a different story. Stroud, picked it up in the second half going 7-for-8 with 241 yards and four touchdowns in the second half, perhaps showing early glimpses that despite his youth and inexperience he can game manage and perform under pressure at the requisite level of a Big Ten and Ohio State quarterback. Under Ryan Day's tutelage, the Buckeyes have become known for their dynamic, big-play offense, and thought it took a while to get going, Thursday was ultimately no different. Ohio State opened the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown run by Miyan Williams with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter as part of a 92-yard opening drive. That big play was predictive of what was to come for the Buckeyes, who amassed at least 38 yards on every touchdown except for one defensive scoop and score on a fumble recovery which went a measley 32 yards. The freshman Stroud hit three different receivers for a total of four touchdowns, including Chris Olave twice who also amassed 117 yards on just four catches. It's hard to know if this will be the norm for Stroud, or how Minnesota will fare without Ibrahim but the first Big Ten game of Week 1 certainly did its part to live up to its billing. Below are the live updates, highlights and scores from Thursday's first marquee Big Ten game of the year between Ohio State and Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Ohio State vs. Minnesota score
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Ohio State 7 3 21 14 45
Minnesota 0 14 7 10 31
