The Buckeyes close out their 2023 home schedule by hosting the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday.

Ohio State wraps up their 2023 home schedule on Saturday when they host the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Buckeyes have dominated the series with Minnesota, posting a 46-7 record against the Golden Gophers.

Ohio State has won 11-straight games against Minnesota, and 27 of the last 28 meetings. The only win by the Golden Gophers during that span came in 2000 when they beat the Buckeyes 29-17 in Columbus. The last meeting between the schools came at the beginning of the 2021 season, with Ohio State winning 45-31 in Minneapolis.

An impressive performance last week

After dominating Michigan State from start to finish on Saturday night, the Buckeyes will be looking to do the same to Minnesota this week. Ohio State scored touchdowns on their first three drives to open up a 21-0 lead on the Spartans early in the second quarter. Marvin Harrison Jr. scored all three of those touchdowns for the Buckeyes, with the first of those scores being a rushing touchdown before hauling in two touchdown passes from Kyle McCord.

Harrison continued his assault on the Ohio State record books, becoming the first Buckeye receiver to amass at least 1,000 yards receiving in two different seasons. After finishing last season with 1,263 yards receiving, Harrison now has 1,063 yards receiving this year. With his 149 yards in the win over Michigan State, Harrison’s 14 career 100-yard receiving games has tied David Boston for most in school history.

Along with Harrison, a heavy target for Kyle McCord against the Spartans was tight end Cade Stover, who returned to the field after missing the game against Rutgers. Stover tied a career-high with seven receptions, finishing with 79 yards and a touchdown. Stover now has caught 75 passes in his Ohio State career, moving past Cedric Saunders and Dave Ellis last week for third-most in school history.

Throwing the football to Harrison and Stover last week was Kyle McCord, who posted a career-high 335 yards passing. Unlike previous games where McCord was inconsistent at times with his throws, against the Spartans he was on with the majority of his throws, only missing on seven of his 31 pass attempts. Heading into this week’s contest, McCord has thrown for 2,687 yards, 20 touchdowns, and just four interceptions.

While TreVeyon Henderson didn’t roll up as much yardage as he did in the previous two games, the junior running back still averaged nearly five yards per carry against Michigan State. With the Buckeyes jumping out to such a big lead early on, Henderson only carried the football 13 times, finishing with 63 yards and a touchdown. Henderson has now found the end zone at least once in each of the last six games he has played in. Since Henderson returned from injury, Ohio State has averaged over 30 yards more per game on the ground over the last three contests

Defensive domination

When the offense is cooking like they did last week, the Buckeyes are almost impossible to beat since the defense has been one of the best in the country all year. Overall, Ohio State is fourth in college football, allowing just 262.2 yards per game, and they are second in the FBS, giving up just 9.9 points per game. The Buckeyes have been especially tough against the run, not allowing a rushing touchdown in five straight games. For the season, Ohio State has given up just three rushing touchdowns.

The defense was a bit shorthanded last week, since both Lathan Ransom and Tommy Eichenberg didn’t play against Michigan State. Ransom has been ruled out for at least the rest of the regular season, and it’s unknown if he’ll be able to play in a bowl game. The prognosis for Eichenberg is a little brighter, as Ohio State likely held him out as a precaution to make sure he is as healthy as possible for the Michigan game in a couple weeks.

Even though Ransom wasn’t able to play against Michigan State, the pass defense of the Buckeyes was in top form, allowing just 88 yards passing to the Spartans. After missing the Rutgers game, Denzel Burke was back in the lineup last week. The star cornerback leads Ohio State with nine pass breakups. Along with Burke, Jordan Hancock has been playing with a ton of confidence, while freshman Jermaine Mathews Jr. has seen valuable playing time as the season has gone on.

What has helped Ohio State still be dominant without Ransom in the lineup has been the tremendous depth they have at safety. Sonny Styles had a great game against Michigan State, adding even more highlights to his fabulous sophomore season. To balance the youth of Styles, veteran Josh Proctor continues to be a steadying force at safety for the Buckeyes, coming up with big plays in key spots.

At the other end of the defense, Tyleik Williams has been terrifying opposing offenses all year long. Williams leads Ohio State’s defensive linemen with 41 tackles, and has registered 9.5 tackles for loss this season, which is a team-high. The defensive tackle has three sacks on the season, which is just a sack behind J.T. Tuimoloau for the team lead. It’s frightening to think of just how good the Ohio State defense could be if Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer were more constant sources of pressure on the defensive line.