by First Half
The Ohio State offense struck on their opening drive, even though Miller had a few tough snaps back to Justin Fields. The 12 play, 83-yard drive was finished off with an elusive scramble from Fields. The 2-yard TD run put the Buckeyes up 7-0.
At the end of the first quarter, Fields found Garrett Wilson with a 28-yard TD strike. It was an NFL quality throw from Fields while rolling to his right and just floating the ball over the underneath defender. Wilson’s stiff arm after the catch allowed him to get into the endzone standing up. (14-0)
On the first drive of the second quarter, Fields followed Dawand Jones and Trey Sermon into the endzone for an easy 1-yard run. (21-0)
After back-to-back punts, Michigan State was backed up on their own two-yard line. After two runs and no push against the OSU front seven, Rocky Lombardi looked to the air on third down. Defensive tackle Haskell Garrett stuck his left hand up and deflected the pass. Garrett then tracked the ball and showed off some solid hands by catching the ball in the endzone. The defensive pick-six put the Buckeyes up 28-0.
Towards the end of the first half, Rocky Lombardi was taken to the locker room following a Tyreke Smith sack. Payton Thorne came into the game and was moving the ball but fumbled on a fourth and two. Baron Browning came in hard on the tackle and ripped the ball out. Javontae Jean-Baptiste recovered for Ohio State and the Bucks took a comfortable 28-0 lead into half.
