EAST LANSING, Mich. — With Michigan State having lost three in a row, it wasn’t the best time for for it to have No. 3 Ohio State walk into Spartan Stadium.
But on Saturday afternoon, the Buckeyes offered a harsh reminder of just how big the gap is between the teams as Ohio State, for the second straight season, dominated Michigan State, this time cruising to a 49-20 victory, the fourth straight defeat for Michigan State.
C.J. Stroud matched his touchdown total from a season ago, throwing for six scores to lead the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten). The Ohio State quarterback finished 21-for-26 passing for 361 yards and was out of the game by the end of the third quarter.
Stroud had plenty of help as the Buckeyes piled up 612 total yards after gaining 655 in last season’s blowout. Marvin Harrison Jr. had seven catches for 131 yards with three touchdowns while Emeka Egbuka had five receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown. Julian Fleming and Gee Scott Jr. added touchdown receptions while TreVeyon Henderson ran for 118 yards and one touchdown.
Michigan State (2-4, 0-3) had few answers as it was outgained 429-117 in the first half, and by the time quarterback Payton Thorne was pulled late in the third quarter, that total had gone down to 102 yards.
Thorne did throw a touchdown pass to Jayden Reed in the first half and Charles Brantley returned an interception — the first of the season for the Michigan State defense — 32 yards for a touchdown, but that was about it as the Spartans totaled only 202 yards, including just seven rushing yards.
The game didn’t start exactly as it did a year ago, but the first half was still dominated by Ohio State as the Buckeyes gained 429 total yards and scored on five of six possession, its punter never needing to come off the sideline.
Stroud did make one mistake, throwing the interception to Brantley for Michigan State’s first touchdown. But that was it as Stroud was 15-for-18 passing for 285 yards and four touchdowns, connecting twice with Harrison while finding Fleming for a 51-yard scoring strike and Egbuka on a 69-yard touchdown pass. Henderson added a 26-yard touchdown run while gaining 117 yards in the first half.
Michigan State managed only four rushing yards in the first half while Thorne was sacked twice. He hit Reed for an 18-yard touchdown in the second quarter, but the point after was missed by Jack Stone and any potential momentum was lost.
The second half was more of the same as Ohio State added third-quarter touchdown receptions from Harrison and Scott. The Spartans were held to minus-12 total yards in the third quarter as the Buckeyes took away any chance of Michigan State mounting a comeback.
Michigan State managed to put together a fourth-quarter scoring drive as Noah Kim hit Montorie Foster with a 25-yard touchdown pass to pull the Spartans within 49-20 with 5:40 left.
