First thoughts: Buckeyes use offensive firepower to race past Toledo

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day mentioned at the pregame Skull Session before the game that it was time for the Buckeyes to start dominating.

The Buckeyes heard that message loud and clear.

C.J. Stroud and the offense did whatever they wanted to the Toledo defense. The Ohio State defense had some blemishes pop up, yes. But they didn’t matter. And as the Buckeyes move on to Big Ten play after throttling the Rockets in Ohio Stadium on Saturday night, they’ll have some corrections to make — and some offense fireworks to marvel at.

The final score didn’t matter. That the Buckeyes kept their foot on the gas for an extended period of time did.

Simply put, Ohio State easily dominated Toledo to move to 3-0 on the season, giving the Buckeyes plenty of confidence heading into a primetime matchup with Wisconsin next week to begin the conference slate.

That’s where the autopsy of this Ohio State demolition starts for Lettermen Row, as we’re giving our first thoughts on how the Buckeyes dismantled the Rockets. Let’s dive in.

C.J. Stroud puts on passing clinic, reinserts himself as Heisman frontrunner

Any question on C.J. Stroud‘s Heisman candidacy? No? Ok. Stroud was nearly perfect on the night for the Buckeyes, assembling a cool, collected stat line of 22 completions, 367 yards and five touchdown passes. That’s all he needed to put the Buckeyes in front with a massive halftime lead thanks to his incredible ball placement to his entire array of receivers, including Julian Fleming and Marvin Harrison Jr., who each caught two touchdown passes. Stroud showed laser precision on some of the throws, proving he is one of the two best quarterbacks in all of college football. He reinserted himself squarely in the
Heisman Trophy conversation against the Rockets. Don’t expect him to leave it any time soon, especially with his receiving group back on the field.

Dallan Hayden can add new layer to Ohio State offense in backfield

Ohio State suffered some tough injury news after just one drive on Saturday night, when starting tailback TreVeyon Henderson was taken to the locker room. He did not return. With just two scholarship running backs left, Miyan Williams replaced Henderson as the bell cow, but Dallan Hayden impressed with plenty of burst on his carries, especially with his 45-yard scamper on the first drive of the second half. Ohio State coaches raved about Hayden during training camp, and Hayden backed that up in the win over Toledo. He made the most of his snaps, going for more than 100 yards rushing for the first time in his career, showing he can add a layer to the Ohio State offense as Big Ten play opens next week. Don’t be surprised to see him in the offense more.

Buckeyes defense has room for improvement against mobile quarterbacks

The offense seemed perfect for the Buckeyes, scoring on their first six drives of the game. The defense? There’s still plenty of room for improvement for Jim Knowles unit, especially defending a running quarterback like Toledo’s Dequan Finn, who found success by scrambling around the turf at Ohio Stadium. The good news for the Buckeyes is that they might not see another rushing quarterback until the end of October — Penn State’s Sean Clifford can run. They have plenty of time to correct the issues that led to two Toledo scores in the first half against the starting Ohio State defense. If the adjustments made by Knowles have shown anything so far in his short time with the Buckeyes, they will get them sured up to not make it an issue moving forward.