Ohio State has not lost an NCFA regular season game in nearly four years and that trend continued on Halloween as the Buckeyes defeated Toledo 51-14 in the first matchup between the two schools.
The Rockets, who are in the midst of their first full season in existence, came to Columbus sporting a 2-2 record but left with their second straight loss to fall below .500 for the first time since Week 1.
After forcing a three-and-out on defense to start the game, the Ohio State offense marched 55 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 15-yard scoring run by quarterback Kellyn Gerenstein. A bad snap on the point-after attempt left the Buckeyes up 6-0.
Ohio State’s defense forced another Rocket punt before the Buckeye offense marched into Toledo territory again. This time though, the Rocket defense stiffened and held OSU to a field goal attempt, which was knocked in by David Rive from 32 yards out, giving the home team a 9-0 advantage.
Another Toledo punt gave the Buckeyes the ball back in excellent field position. On the first play of the second quarter, Gerenstein scampered for a 17-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 16-0.
The Rockets would answer however, putting together a 70-yard scoring drive, capped by a touchdown pass from Derick Daniels to Jack Glowski to pull Toledo within 16-7. That would be the closest the visitors would get.
Ohio State’s offense answered in a big way, as running back Jalen Haley found the end zone on a 45-yard scoring run to push the Buckeye lead to 23-7, a score that would stand until halftime.
The second half was dominated by Ohio State, which started with the football and despite a penalty on the opening kickoff, marched 93 yards on just seven plays, as Gerenstein found the end zone for a third time on the ground, this time from 26 yards out.
Another Ohio State defensive stop gave the Buckeyes the ball back again and while OSU marched inside the Toledo 1-yard-line, a fumble in the end zone was recovered by the Rockets, giving the visitors the ball back. Once again, the OSU defense stiffened and the offense capitalized as Gerenstein found tight end Adam Bardak for a 15-yard touchdown pass to open the fourth quarter, pushing the Buckeye lead to 37-7.
A second 15-yard touchdown pass, this time to wide receiver Cam Ryan on the ensuing drive, gave Ohio State a 44-7 lead and ended Gerenstein’s day. He finished 17-of-32 passing for 237 yards and two touchdowns while adding 159 yards and three touchdowns on the ground on 14 carries. Haley also eclipsed 100-yards, rushing for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 14 touches. Johnathan Thiele saw his most extended playing time against Toledo, tallying 45 yards on nine carries. Overall, the Buckeyes rushed for an even 350 yards on 40 carries, while passing for 245 yards on 18 completions with Spencer Moore completing his first pass of the season. Moore also collected a catch for eight yards, and rushed twice for seven yards.
Through the air, six different Buckeyes caught passes. Casey Scroggins was held out of the end zone for the first time since Week 1, however he still hauled in eight receptions for 109 yards. It was his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season, and he also added an interception on defense, his third on the year. Now with 34 receptions on the season, Scroggins is just three catches away from breaking the program record of 36 which was set in 2019 by Geoff Green II.
Cam Ryan posted his best game as a Buckeye, hauling in five passes for 65 yards and his first touchdown of the season. Moore, Bardak, Anthony Novak and David Cooper all recorded receptions as well.
Defensively, Ohio State forced five three-and-outs and three turnovers-on-downs to go along with Scroggins’ interception and a fumble recovery from Jackson Rittman. The Buckeyes received standout performances from a number of defensive players, including Dierre Blash, Kwame Peprah and Jeremiah Croom.
While also starting at guard on offense, Blash was a beast up front on defense, collecting eight total tackles and a career-high three sacks. Peprah was a menace in the middle, tallying seven solo stops including four for loss and two sacks. From his corner position, Croom deflected three passes and collected four total tackles.
The 51 points scored were the third most in program history and the most scored since scoring 54 against SIUe in 2016.
Now sitting at 4-2 on the season and 4-0 in the NCFA, Ohio State is set to close the regular season at Wright State on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. The winner will then host the Great American Conference title game on either Nov. 13 or Nov. 14, where the two teams will meet again. The Raiders are 5-2 on the season and 4-2 in the NCFA.
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