The 2021 season's largest margin: Ohio State 59, Akron 7. A 52-point win — the year's high-water mark.
2021 — The Top-10 Year
Ohio State finished 2021 inside the final AP top-10. The top-10 is the tier the program calibrates annual expectation against.
The Shape — week-by-week · cumulative W–L below
Who carried it
- C.J. StroudQB4,435 passing yards
- Kyle McCordQB416 passing yards
- TreVeyon HendersonRB1,255 rushing yards
- Miyan WilliamsRB507 rushing yards
- Master TeagueRB348 rushing yards
- Jaxon Smith-NjigbaWR1,606 receiving yards
- Garrett WilsonWR1,058 receiving yards
- Chris OlaveWR936 receiving yards
- Ronnie HickmanS98 tackles
- Tommy EichenbergLB64 tackles
- Bryson ShawS59 tackles
- Haskell GarrettDT5.5 sacks
- Tyleik WilliamsDT5 sacks
- Zach HarrisonDE3 sacks
Season leaders, 2021.
The season's deepest loss: Ohio State 27, Michigan 42. A 15-point margin the season is remembered by.
The season's last act: Ohio State beat Utah 48-45 in the postseason.
"The standard is the standard."
2021 is a middle chapter for Ohio State — neither a crown year nor a crisis. It is the kind of season that fills the ledger between the named ones and gives the arc its shape.