Three players that stood out in the Ohio State's win over Minnesota

A whole lot went right as the Ohio State Buckeyes took down the Minnesota Gophers. The offense dominated through the air and the defense continued to show they are one of the best in the nation.

It’s hard to pick just a couple standouts in a dominant team win, but here are three players whose individual performance stood out in the Buckeyes 42-3 win over Minnesota.

1. Carnell Tate

Seven catches for 163 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. It was clear the Gophers wanted to do everything in their power to shut down Jeremiah Smith, which allowed Tate to be open all day long.

He had three catches of over 40 yards in the first half, one went for a touchdown and the other two set up touchdowns.

He was dynamic and explosive as Ohio State’s top deep threat, and when he’s playing like this it frees everything up for the offense. He was elusive after the catch too, showing off top end speed, good footwork and plenty of elusiveness after the catch.

This game should send a message to teams all over college football. If you sell out to stop Smith, Tate will be right there to take over the game.

Tate finished the game with 183 yards despite not playing much in the fourth quarter, showing off why he deserves to be a future first round pick in the NFL as well.

2. Max Klare

This was easily Klare’s best game in scarlet and grey. The highly recruited tight end out of the transfer portal from Purdue struggled to find his place in the offense early this season.

Klare’s best attribute has been his ability to catch the ball and get yards after, but in the first four games he had less than 100 total yards.

He finally looked like a solid contributor to the offense this game, catching five balls for 63 yards. For the first time it looked like he was able to get open across the middle of the field, and be a checkdown weapon for some easy yardage when Julian Sayin needed it.

With Sayin continuing to develop, having another high-level weapon to throw to can only help the young quarterback.

Hopefully this game can give Klare some more confidence, boosting his play as a Buckeye.

Also shout out to Sayin, who finished the game 23/27 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. With so many elite performances on offense in the win, it was hard to leave him or Jeremiah Smith (two touchdowns) off this list. I expect Sayin, the most accurate quarterback in the nation, and the Heisman hopeful Smith to have plenty more performances just like this.

3. Sonny Styles

Really, take your pick at any of the front seven for this spot. It may be the best unit in all of college football.

Sonny Styles gets the nod here as he leads the team in tackles with eight, including a TFL. He was once again flying around out there, helping the defense hold Minnesota to under three yards a carry running the ball, and less than 100 total passing yards.

Arvell Reese had a nice day as well, racking up a sack and four tackles. Caden Curry had four tackles too, including a well read screen pass that stalled Minnesota in the red zone.

Early on it feels like this defense gives up some yards early in the game while they settle, but they always come up big in the red zone.

If Styles keeps up performances like this, there isn’t an offense in all of college football that can stop them.