Ohio State struggled early but rallied in the third quarter to secure a surprisingly hard-fought 45-31 victory over Minnesota to open the 2021 season Thursday night.

Trailing 14-10 at halftime, OSU rode a pair of long CJ Stroud scoring passes and a scoop-and-score fumble recovery into a 31-21 third-quarter edge. When Minnesota pulled back to within a single score at 31-24, Stroud went to work again. Three plays later, he dropped a screen pass to freshman back TreVeyon Henderson, who took it 70 yards for a game-clinching touchdown. Both teams traded TDs after that.

Stroud threw 4 TD passes in his first start, but it wasn’t always pretty. A 35-point second half made all of the difference, however.

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On an up and down night, Ohio State started brilliantly, forcing a Minnesota punt on the game’s opening series and then going 92 yards on 5 plays, with the key play being a 71-yard run by Miyan Williams for his first OSU touchdown. After a successful extra point, the Buckeyes led 7-0 with 7:22 to play in the opening quarter. After forcing another Gophers punt, Ohio State took over on its own 9-yard line and drove to the Minnesota 17 before settling for a 35-yard Noah Ruggles field goal to extend their advantage to 10-0 with 12:50 to play in the first half.

From there, Minnesota suddenly turned it on. The Gophers had just 55 yards on offense and quickly found themselves in a 4th-and-1 on their own 29-yard line. Coach PJ Fleck gambled on his offense and his bet paid off with a 55-yard run from Mohamed Ibrahim to move the chains. Two plays later, Tanner Morgan completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Wright to narrow the OSU lead to 10-7 with 9:11 to play in the half.

On the ensuing possession, Stroud threw a tipped pass that was intercepted and Minnesota turned a short field into another score, with a 37-yard drive finishing with a 1-yard Ibrahim run to give UM a 14-10 advantage, which the Gophers took into halftime.

The second half opened with the teams swapping scores. Ohio State grabbed the lead on Stroud’s first college touchdown pass, a 38-yard connection to Chris Olave. Less than 3 minutes later, Ibrahim answered with a 19-yard scoring scamper for Minnesota, giving the Gophers a 21-17 lead. That would be the final lead of the day for Minnesota.

After the teams traded punts, Stroud struck again, this time connecting on a 56-yard scoring strike to Garrett Wilson. Stroud’s second scoring bomb gave OSU a lead they would never relinquish. Indeed, on the ensuing Minnesota drive, OSU defensive end Zach Harrison sacked Gopher QB Tanner Morgan and stripped him of the ball. It was recovered by DT Haskell Garrett, who rumbled 32 yards to extend the Buckeye edge to 31-21 with 2:18 left in the third quarter. A few plays later, Minnesota’s Ibrahim sustained a leg injury that ended his day with 163 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

A 46-yard field goal by Minnesota’s Matthew Trickett narrowed the score to 31-24 with 10:39 to play, but then Stroud and Henderson hooked up on a 70-yard catch and run to essentially end the game.

Ohio State (1-0) will host Oregon next weekend in a marquee nonconference matchup. Minnesota (0-1) will host Miami of Ohio next Saturday, albeit with one eye to the status of Ibrahim.