Ohio State Buckeyes vs Utah Utes postgame reaction for "The Granddaddy of Them All," The Rose Bowl, and man! What a game it was! The affair was a WILD one that was back and forth, particularly in the second half, with plenty of offense if you like that sort of thing. Ohio State Football and C.J. Stroud had a field day behind excellent protection from the offensive line. He went 37/46 for 573 yards, had 6 touchdowns, and threw just 1 interception. He was on the mark all game and his receivers made life easy for him, doing an excellent job of getting open. The obvious choice for player of the game was one of those said receivers, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Njigba had 15 receptions for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns. Marvin Harrison Jr. also had himself a day with 6 receptions for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson added another 83 yards on the ground off of 17 carries. Utah Football had their way for much of the first half, scoring 35 points and taking a 35-21 lead into the locker room. Unfortunately, they could only muster up 10 more points in the second half. Cameron Rising had a solid day throwing the ball, going 17/22 for 214 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His backup, Bryson Barnes, came in on Utah's final drive with Rising out injured and went 2/2 for 23 yards and 1 touchdown, keeping Utah in the game. But in the end, Kyle Whittingham's Utes couldn't outlast Ryan Day's Buckeyes. Despite Rising adding another 92 yards with his legs and Brant Kuithe having 6 receptions for 77 yards, Utah was unable to outscore Ohio State. Nothing to be down about, though. Many teams cannot accomplish that task, with or without star players opting out.