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PASADENA, Calif. — C.J. Stroud capped his record-setting offensive day by main a 56-yard drive ending in Noah Ruggles’ 19-yard discipline purpose with 9 seconds to play, and No. 7 Ohio State beat No. 10 Utah 48-45 on Saturday night time within the wild 108th version of the Rose Bowl.
Stroud handed for a school-record 573 yards and a record-tying six touchdowns for the Buckeyes (11-2), who gained the Granddaddy of Them All for the second time in 4 years with an offensive efficiency that shattered a number of long-standing offensive marks. Stroud’s yards passing and touchdowns each are Rose Bowl information, and he completed 3 yards shy of the report for yards passing in any bowl recreation.
Ohio State nonetheless needed to rally from 10 factors down late within the third quarter to get previous the Pac-12 champion Utes (10-4), who received off to an electrifying begin and stayed aggressive even after star quarterback Cameron Rising went down with an harm with 9:56 to play in Utah’s first journey to the Rose Bowl.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba set the report for any FBS bowl recreation with 347 yards receiving whereas catching a school-record 15 passes and scoring three touchdowns. Marvin Harrison Jr. additionally caught three TD passes for the Buckeyes, who set a Rose Bowl report with 683 complete yards.
Ohio State trailed 38-31 getting into the fourth quarter regardless of the pyrotechnics of its passing recreation, however the Buckeyes instantly stopped Utah on downs on the Ohio State 31, and tied it on Harrison’s 5-yard TD catch with 10:12 left. Rising was injured moments later whereas getting sacked, the Utes needed to flip to Bryson Barnes, who had by no means thrown a collegiate go.
Smith-Njigba then made a 30-yard, over-the-shoulder catch for his third landing with 4:22 to play, however Barnes improbably led the Utes on a tying drive capped by a 15-yard TD go to Dalton Kincaid with 1:54 left.
However Stroud coolly led the Buckeyes again downfield within the waning seconds, and Ruggles hit his straightforward discipline purpose. Ohio State kicked off to Britain Covey, who already had a 97-yard kickoff return for a landing earlier, however the Buckeyes smothered his cutback as time ran out.
Rising handed for 214 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 92 yards and a rating, however he left the sport with an obvious head harm after getting sacked.
With two high Buckeyes receivers opting out of the Rose Bowl, Smith-Njigba had a spectacular day that included TD receptions of fifty and 52 yards made 30 seconds aside — albeit with Covey’s TD return in between.
He broke Cris Carter’s 1985 college report of 172 yards receiving in a bowl recreation within the first half alone. He snapped Keyshawn Johnson’s 1996 Rose Bowl report of 216 yards receiving after which Terry Glenn’s 1995 single-game college report of 253 yards after halftime.
When Utah led 35-21 at halftime, the faculties matched the 2012 Oregon-Wisconsin matchup for the highest-scoring half in Rose Bowl historical past — they usually mixed for 42 factors and 443 yards within the second quarter alone.
The 24-year-old Covey’s sensational 97-yard romp by way of the Buckeyes within the second quarter was the primary kickoff return for a landing in Utah’s total bowl historical past. Covey, who additionally caught a 19-yard TD go for the Utes’ first factors, arrived on the college in 2015.
A sellout crowd dominated by Utah followers created a crackling ambiance within the venerable stadium that opened in October 1922.
With the anticlimactic nature of this Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes, whose loss to Michigan in November knocked them out of the nationwide title image, 4 key starters opted out to protect their well being for the NFL draft: Receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, beginning left deal with Nicholas Petit-Frere and defensive deal with Haskell Garrett.
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