PASADENA – There are levels to this game.

On one level you have C.J. Stroud throwing lightning bolts to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 347 yards worth, and to Marvin Harrison Jr., whose father’s noggin is featured in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On another, you have a freshman who tends to the pigs on the family farm, and played quarterback for the smallest football-playing high school in Utah. He threw the Rose Bowl-tying touchdown pass to a tight end whose prep career didn’t begin until he was a senior, and who made his reputation at the U. of San Diego.

Until nine seconds were left on Saturday, they were on the same level. Ohio State had 45, Utah had 45. But Stroud had the ball last, and he navigated the Buckeyes to Noah Ruggles’ field goal that won this exhausting Rose Bowl, 48-45.

It wasn’t the best one you ever saw. It wasn’t USC-Texas with Vince Young, or probably not USC-Penn State with Sam Darnold. There was too much casual tackling, at least until Ohio State’s defenders peeled some paint in the halftime locker room, and there was brutal special teams coverage throughout. Ohio State might have romped if not for Smith-Njigba’s fumble into the end zone, and for Clark Phillips III’s end zone interception of Stroud.

But no one has seen so many New Year’s explosions in such a short period of time. In a five-play span, Ohio State and Utah combined for four touchdowns. Stroud was finding so many receivers in so many wide-open spaces that OSU had a 21-point first half without even visiting the red zone.

But the redshirt freshman from Rancho Cucamonga also threw some pinpoint drones for touchdowns, especially the 30-yarder into the right corner to Smith-Njigba, who set an all-time all-bowl yardage mark, that put the Buckeyes ahead by seven and brought back images of Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes at the end of a Super Bowl.

Utah wanted to stop the run and make OSU one-dimensional. It did, and then Stroud displayed the fifth dimension.

“They went to some run-pass options in the second half, and tried to involve our linebackers,” said Utah “rover” Nephi Sewell. “Smith-Njigba is a great wide receiver, even though (Garrett) Wilson and (Chris) Olave weren’t there (sitting out). He really popped tonight, and he found the holes in our zone. He and Stroud have great chemistry.”

The Utes also had to shift running back Micah Bernard to cornerback in the second half. But after Cameron Rising toyed with the Buckeyes in the first half and hit nine of 12 passes, the Buckeyes denied Utah a second-half touchdown until 1:54 remained.

“They couldn’t cover us with their zone and, in man-to-man, we all feel like unguardable,” said tight end Brant Kuithe. “We had little hiccups here and there, and we had a few conversions we didn’t get. They showed different weaves and different pressures in the second half, and we couldn’t always pick it up.”

But what a late touchdown that was, at least in Milford, Utah, population 1,409.

Bryson Barnes, when he wasn’t tending to the pigs, was playing quarterback. Some FCS schools, like Southern Utah, had some interest, but Barnes had bigger dreams.

He became a preferred walk-on.

The Utes probably would have preferred for Rising to stay in, but Kourt Williams of the Buckeyes sacked Rising and bounced his head off the turf. Rising got up eventually but was in no shape to continue.

“I’m proud of Bryson,” Kuithe said. “He’s a blue collar guy who works his ass off. He did a great job leading us.”

Barnes took the Utes 57 yards to a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid, the ex-Torero. Pass interference penalties helped, but there was too much time for Stroud, and too little time for Utah after coach Kyle Whittingham refused to use any timeouts on defense.

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For a while Britain Covey looked to be the hero. He is the real Granddaddy of them all, still playing at 24.

Covey caught a TD pass and then made the stadium throb when he returned a kickoff 97 yards for Utah’s 28-14 lead.

He was philosophical afterward, like a lot of old people.

“What I love about football is that we have Bam Olaseni, who is 6-foot-8 and 340, and you look at me at 5-2 and 120 (really 5-8 and 170), and you put them on the same field,” Covey said. “You each have a niche. It gives everybody an opportunity, no matter what your body type is. You just put them together and you say, make it work.”

On the first day of the New Year, it often does.