EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — C.J. Stroud tied a school record with six touchdown passes and No. 3 Ohio State coasted to a 49-20 win over Michigan State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) scored on their opening drive for the fifth straight game when Marvin Harrison Jr. caught his first of three touchdowns.
It was an impressive performance by an offense without injured receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and running back Miyan Williams.
How good would Ohio State be at full strength?
“It’s scary to me so I can only imagine what it’s like for the rest of the country,” said Harrison, who had seven catches for 118 yards and three scores for the third time in seven games.
TreVeyon Henderson ran for 118 yards and a touchdown before limping off the field with an apparent right leg injury in the third quarter.
With an abundance of caution, Day kept him on the sideline.
“If it was a different game, he probably would’ve come back in,” Day said.
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3) have lost four straight after winning their first two games this season.
Stroud was 21 of 26 for 361 yards. He became the first player in program history to throw six touchdowns in three games, a feat he pulled off in consecutive games against Michigan State.
“What can you say about somebody who throwing it like that in 20 mph wind?” Day asked.
Stroud threw an interception for the third straight game and the latest was returned 32 yards by Charles Brantley to pull the Spartans into a 7-all tie.
Emeka Egbuka had five receptions for 143 yards and a score, a 69-yard catch on Stroud’s first throw after his Pick-6 in the second quarter.
Payton Thorne was 11 of 18 for 113 yards with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed to pull the Spartans within eight points early in the second quarter before they gave up 28 straight points in the lopsided game.
Michigan State has already lost twice as many games as it did last season.
“It’s very tough,” Thorne said. “It’s not something you want to go through. It’s not easy.”
Thorne, who threw an interception, could not rely on a running game that gained just 7 yards against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is the first Big Ten team to score 45-plus points in five straight games since Michigan did it, closing the 1946 season and picking it up again in 1947, and it will take quite a defense to slow them down.
The Buckeyes’ bye week comes at a good time to rest a banged-up backfield before hosting Iowa on Oct. 22 and playing the next week at No. 10 Penn State.