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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Michael Chen

5-stars: The best and worst of Ohio State’s Senior Day win over Minnesota

It was a very successful senior day for Ohio State football, as it used a dominant third quarter to put away Minnesota, 37-3.

The Buckeyes received plenty of strong play from both sides of the ball. There was also aspects Ohio State could have been much better at.

This week two players reached five-star status, the best of what we saw on Saturday evening. There was also two units that didn’t play at a championship level, which earned them the lower stars.

Find out below who which were the best (five-star) and worst (one-star), performances for Ohio State in its win over Minnesota.

5 ⭐️ - Defensive end Jack Sawyer

Why

It was easy to label Sawyer as a bust heading into this season. He barely played during his freshman year and was playing out of position in 2022. The former No. 1 prospect coming out of high school played like it tonight. He was getting pressure all game and making plenty of tackles behind the line of scrimmage, 3.5 in fact. The second of two huge plays to start the second half, Sawyer’s sack/fumble almost led to a scoop and score by J.T. Tuimoloau. It was one of the best games of Sawyer’s Buckeye career.

5 ⭐️ - Running back TreVeyon Henderson

Why

A healthy TreVeyon Henderson is one of the best players in the country. It’s oddly interesting that many people forget about how special of a talent he is, likely due to his injury history. Anytime he touches the ball, he can take it to the house. Henderson’s speed is just different, and he showed that on his two touchdown scampers.

3 ⭐️ - Quarterback Kyle McCord

Why

His final line will look good, but McCord missed on more than a few easy throws. We saw the highs last week. This wasn’t a low, but he was not nearly as crisp with ball placement this time. At this point, it’s fairly easy to say he’s a game manager, doesn’t make many terrible mistakes, but wins games. He’s Ryan Day’s version of Craig Krenzel, and we all know how that turned out.

2 ⭐️ - Parker Fleming’s special teams unit

Why

The only saving grace was Jayden Fielding being perfect in all of his field goal attempts. If you aren’t going to return a punt, you better catch it and not risk getting pinned inside the 20-yard line. It seems like a weekly occurrence to complain about this group, but there is so much below-average play on a regular basis.

⭐️ - Ohio State’s offense's inability to finish drives

Why

It wasn’t the the Buckeye offense played bad in the first 30 minutes, its that it missed opportunities to put more points on the board. The offense moved the ball with 232 yards and 14 first downs, but only managed 13 points. Part of it was the starting field position inside the 10-yard line multiple times. Some of it was average play that improved in the second half. The OSU offense has to do a better job as the biggest games of the season are upon us.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.

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