Ohio State-Minnesota match-ups

Nov. 17—QUARTERBACKS

Ten games into his time as Ohio State's starting quarterback Kyle McCord ranks second among this season's Big Ten starters in passing yards and completion percentage and third in touchdown passes.

Minnesota's Athan Kaliakmanis has completed only 52 percent of his passes for 1,582 yards and has 13 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. He has passed for fewer than 200 yards in 8 of the Gophers' 10 games and his longest completion went 39 yards.

Advantage: Ohio State

RUNNING BACKS

TreVeyon Henderson led No. 1 Ohio State (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) in rushing with 63 yards on 13 carries in a 38-3 win over Michigan State last Saturday. All of his carries were in the first half after OSU jumped out to a 35-3 lead at halftime.

Freshman Darius Taylor leads Minnesota (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) with 591 yards rushing but has missed five games because of injuries and has played in only one game since Sept. 23. Sophomore Jordan Nubin is second in rushing yards with 393.

Advantage: Ohio State

RECEIVERS

Marvin Harrison Jr. says the Heisman Trophy isn't in his head but with 59 catches, 1,063 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, his name will continue to be mentioned as a contender for that award.

Daniel Jackson (45 catches, 681 yards, 7 touchdowns) is Minnesota's go-to receiver. Corey Crooms has 26 catches for 334 yards and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford has 23 catches for 226 yards. Chris Autman-Bell led Minnesota in catches in 2021 but after ACL surgery he has not been a factor in the passing game this season.

Advantage: Ohio State

OFFENSIVE LINE

Nobody is going to claim Michigan State is a good team but OSU's offensive line deserves some credit for the Buckeyes gaining 530 yards of total offense, averaging 5.5 yards per running play and not allowing a sack against the Spartans.

Left tackle Aireontae Ersery and right tackle Quinn Carroll are two-year starters and the leaders of the Gophers' offensive line.

Advantage: Ohio State

DEFENSIVE LINE

Michigan State had some success early at moving the ball in the middle of the field but OSU's defense didn't allow them to get close to the end zone most of the night.

Rush end Danny Striggow, who has 7 sacks and 6 tackles for losses, is the standout on Minnesota's defensive front. Nose tackle Kyler Baugh has 3 sacks and 5.5 tackles for losses. Defensive end Jalen Logan-Redding has 2.5 sacks.

Advantage: Ohio State

LINEBACKERS

Leading tackler Tommy Eichenberg did not play against Michigan State because of an arm injury and it wouldn't be surprising if the next time he plays is at Michigan in two weeks.

Linebacker Cody Lindenberg was expected to be one of the engines in Minnesota's defense this season but missed the first seven games, played in the next two, and then was unavailable in a 49-30 loss to Purdue last week. Freshman Maverick Baranowski, who leads the team in tackles with 52, left the Purdue game in the first half with a wrist injury and did not return.

Advantage: Ohio State

DEFENSIVE BACKS

OSU played without starting safeties Josh Proctor and Lathan Ransom against Michigan State. Proctor is expected to return sooner than Ransom.

Strong safety Tyler Nubin (49 tackles) and free safety Darius Green (48 tackles) rank second and third on the team in tackles. Nubin has a team-high 4 interceptions.

Advantage: Ohio State

SPECIAL TEAMS

Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding is 11 of 13 on field goals after hitting one and missing another last Saturday.

Minnesota kicker Dragan Kesich is 21 of 25 on field goals and 22 of 22 on extra points.

Advantage: Ohio State