For the third straight season, the Ohio State Club Football team has captured its conference crown.
The Buckeyes defeated No. 4 Michigan State, 59-21, on Sunday to win the Great Lakes Conference title and an automatic bid in the 2022 NCFA Playoffs. Ohio State will learn their opponent on the NCFA live reveal at Noon on November 14.
Ohio State jumped on the Spartans in the opening minutes as quarterback Kellyn Gerenstein ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run on the Buckeyes’ third play from scrimmage to give the home team a 7-0 lead. On Michigan State’s ensuing possession, the Spartans fumbled. After linebacker Lance Wickham recovered the fumble, Ohio State needed just one play to find the end zone again, as Gerenstein connected with wide receiver Casey Scroggins for a 24-yard touchdown.
The Buckeye defense forced a punt and again Ohio State’s offense found the end zone, this time on a 60-yard strike from Gerenstein to wide receiver Abdou Keita, giving OSU a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter wasn’t short of fireworks either. Michigan State quarterback Jack Donovan found the end zone twice in the frame on short touchdown runs, while Ohio State countered with a 27-yard field goal from David Rive and a 90-yard kickoff return for a score by Keita. The Buckeyes took a 31-14 lead into halftime, and never looked back.
After the Buckeye defense forced a punt, Ohio State’s offense went back to work, running the ball on every play of their first drive of the second half, which ended in a short touchdown run from Gerenstein. Later in the quarter, running back Jalen Haley also hit pay dirt, scoring from six yards out. Haley carried the ball a season-high 18 times for 129 yards, the first time he has surpassed 100-yards this season.
Gerenstein added touchdown passes of 21 yards and 26 yards to Scroggins and Keita respectively early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach before Donovan accounted for his third and final score of the day on a running back screen pass for a touchdown.
For the fourth straight game since returning from injury, Gerenstein accounted for six touchdowns and for the second game in a row, accounted for more than 400 yards of offense. He finished 16-of-28 passing for 305 yards and four scores, and rushed 11 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 20 passing touchdowns on the season, breaking his own single-season record of 17, which he set in 2019.
Defensively, Ohio State got a stellar performance from Scroggins, who not only caught nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but also tallied seven tackles, an interception and a forced fumble on defense. Both turnovers he forced came in the end zone, as the forced fumble resulted in a touchback. Cornerback Joe Umba collected his first interception of the year in the third quarter, while defensive end Trey Jones offered up a solid performance, collecting five tackles, two sacks and a pass deflection. Linebacker Lance Wickham led the Buckeyes in tackles with 10, including one for loss and a pass breakup.
Ohio State is set to play in the NCFA’s final four for the second time in program history. The Buckeyes last played in the semifinals in 2019, defeating Columbus State 17-14 before going on to win the national championship against Oakland. Due to lingering effects left by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCFA did not hold playoffs last year, simply pitting the top two teams in the power rankings against one another, which resulted in a 42-27 Ohio State win over George Mason a year ago.
The Buckeyes will learn their playoff opponent Monday afternoon and will play on Nov. 19 in Fairfax, VA. on the campus of George Mason University. Kickoff time is TBA.
Game Notes
- Ohio State’s 59 points are the second-most in program history, behind only 66 scored against SIUe in 2016.
- Gerenstein’s passing performance was just the fourth 300+ yard passing game in team history. It was the fourth-best single game passing output in program history behind only Jeff Porter (405), Spencer Moore (381) and a 371-yard performance against Denison JV by Gerenstein in 2021.
- After losing the inaugural matchup in 2015, Ohio State has defeated Michigan State twice in 2022, giving the Buckeyes a 2-1 series advantage. The Buckeyes also won 52-17 in Week 2.
- Ohio State has scored 50+ points in all but one game this season, when they scored 40 against Denison JV, a game that was played with 10 minute quarters.
- Casey Scroggins now has six interceptions on the year, matching his total from last season. Scroggins not only holds the program record for career interceptions, but is also the program all-time leading receiver in terms of receptions (104), receiving yards (1,736) and touchdowns (21).
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