Ohio State cruised to a 37-3 win over Minnesota on Saturday, moving to 11-0 on the season ahead of next week’s massive matchup at Michigan on Nov. 25.
Here were selections from the Buckeye Sports Bulletin staff for players worthy of receiving Buckeye Leaves after the win over the Gophers:
Patrick Engels: Jack Sawyer has received a ton of heat this season, mostly for his ineffectiveness as a push rusher, but he showed up in a big way against Minnesota. The former five-star seemed to be involved in a number of critical defensive plays early on in the game, coming away with five first-half tackles and a quarterback hurry. But he was most effective behind the line of scrimmage, where he recorded a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss, by far the most he has had so far this season.
Sawyer also showed up in the second half with a key strip-sack on Gophers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis that led to a 16-yard fumble return from fellow edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau and an eventual score from Marvin Harrison Jr. It capped off a dominant performance that many Ohio State fans have been waiting for all season, one that can give Sawyer even more confidence heading into the Michigan game.
Braden Moles: Tight end Cade Stover got his big moment in his final game at Ohio Stadium, collecting a 1-yard touchdown in front of the packed crowd on Senior Day.
Stover finished with four receptions for 26 yards and the aforementioned score, continuing a strong run since returning from injury a few years back. He also surpassing 1,000 career receiving yards, so he earns my Buckeye Leaf for the day.
Greg Wilson: My Buckeye Leaf goes to TreVeyon Henderson, who yet again had the offense run through him, which it has since he returned from his injury. It was obvious how involved he would be on the first drive when he ran for 35 yards and a touchdown on four carries and added a 13-yard reception.
It was an easy score for the Buckeyes, but the offense stalled for the rest of the first half, only adding two field goals. The game changed when Ohio State came out for the second half and Henderson immediately took a handoff on the first play and ran it 75 yards for a touchdown, giving the Buckeyes the momentum to take a lead big enough with which they were comfortable removing Henderson from the game.
He finished with 15 rushes for 146 yards and two touchdowns with two catches for 26 yards to add to a total of 172 yards from scrimmage without playing most of the second half.
