PASADENA, Calif. — Ohio State played an entire season in the second quarter.

It was an offense that was explosive, showcasing a C.J. Stroud-led passing game that seemingly wouldn’t miss a beat without Garrett Wilson or Chris Olave, going into halftime with 290 passing yards and three touchdowns compared to 36 yards on the ground.

It was the same defense that showed up against Michigan, allowing 21 points in the second quarter alone and 35 points in the first half.

It was a team that looked like it didn’t have a clue against Utah’s offense, with quarterback Cameron Rising focusing his attention on the middle of the field when he and running back Tavion Thomas weren’t gashing the middle of the defensive line in the run game, failing to find run fits at linebacker.

It was a team that lost defensive end Jack Sawyer to a targeting penalty and safety Lathan Ransom to a gruesome left leg injury; an Ohio State squad that came in with 24 players less than it usually done with the combination of injuries, opt-outs and transfers since its most recent loss to Michigan.

In Pasadena Saturday afternoon, Ohio State was at rock bottom. It wasn’t any worse than the game in Ann Arbor, just a continuation.

The Rose Bowl was just the Michigan game without the stakes. The Rose Bowl was Ohio State’s defense collapsing while its offense tried with all its might to get back.

The only difference was Ohio State did. It started its 2022 turnaround in the middle of the game.

Welcome back Buckeyes.

Offensively, it started with Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, putting together the best passing performance in Ohio State history. No Ohio State quarterback had ever recorded more than 500 yards in a single game until Stroud. No Ohio State wide receiver has eclipsed 253 yards until Smith-Njigba did, shattering it with the first 300-yard receiving day in Ohio State history.

That fed into a defense that regrouped after an atrocious first half, allowing 10 points and 139 yards in the final two quarters.

And all of that was forgotten with 12 seconds left as kicker Noah Ruggles hit a chip shot field goal, giving the Buckeyes a three-point win in the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State's second half made them look like a College Football Playoff team again, one that could contend with Georgia, with Alabama, one that could have been playing in Indianapolis in 10 days.

What kept Ohio State back was the lack of consistency in that over the course of the 2021 season.

But if it's any indication as to what Ohio State could do in 2022, those expectations should return to be sky high even with a hell of a lot to improve on.

Read the rest of the takeaways here.