Reading the Ozone post
@ScriptOhio linked on the previous page had me rethinking the games since Urban took over. Urban retired 5-2 against Dantonio. You could make the case a half dozen different play calls here or there (or maybe even just Joey Bosa not being a meathead) and he'd have been 7-0. But the reverse is also true, Urban narrowly escaped being 3-4. After all, Ohio State won 17-16 in East Lansing
TWICE. 17-16 finals don't favor the team running the spread offense, this is a score the team playing Tresselball wins by.
Box scores don't reflect the emotion of the game as you experience it in real time; The despair and inevitability of being down 21-6 to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl when you're actually, apparently, kicking their ass; The euphoria of clawing back against Michigan St in the 3rd quarter of the Big Ten Championship Game and feeling like you were just one Carlos Hyde hand-off on 4th and 1 from winning it, only the box score says MSU pretty much suffocated Ohio State for the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes en route to a double digit win. It was their only dominant win in the series against Urban, so props to them.
I remember the 2012 game being close (and especially chippy). Sparty didn't take their first (and final) lead until near the end of the 3rd quarter, and OSU promptly responded with Braxton dropping a dime to Devin Smith in stride down the sideline for a 63 yard TD just 1:44 later. MSU had the lead for all of that 1:44.
The 2014 game similarly felt close (and chippy), at least early, but again it was an OSU receiver, Michael Thomas, with the dagger, taking a pass 79 yards for a TD just 1:18 after Michigan St had taken the lead. MSU had the lead a grand total of 11:06 of clock time.
2015. Fuck. They never once lead until the clock hit 0:00.
It's the 2016 game that really stands out now...
The 2016 contest at Michigan State ended in a 17-16 Buckeye win (same score as 2012, but a much different route to that final). Trailing 17-10, LJ Scott carried the ball into the end zone from 1 yard out with 4:41 remaining in the game. At this point, Sparty had played perfect Tresselball against a superior roster and was about to tie, leading OSU in yards, time of possession, and having not turned the ball over once. Kick the FG, play defense, and at best they can repeat their 2015 escape the year prior with a walk-off FG. At worst, Dantonio should be thinking, the defense holds and they go to overtime at home with all the momentum. What happened? Dantonio, staring at a three win season, elects to go for the win right there and a Tyler O'Connor 2 point conversion attempt is picked off. On their final possession, a desperation heave from O'Connor is also intercepted by Gareon Conley, and Ohio State escapes East Lansing with the 1 point victory.
Why was this significant? Because again, Dantonio had the opportunity to win "the surest way" with Tresselball. He went away from it. From that moment, in the over 124 minutes of Michigan State v Ohio State football played since, Michigan State has scored 9 points, turned over the football 8 times, and never once held a lead.
Taking it back further. Since 2015, in 240 minutes of football, Michigan State has held a lead versus Ohio State for a grand total of 9 minutes and 57 seconds, and scored 42 total points. Yet still, they're a PBU on a 2 point conversion away from being 2-2.
Yeah, I know their needle is trending 'down' versus what they were working with in talent in the early half of this decade, but those are the "by the numbers" every OSU fan knows. Head to the store tomorrow and grab yourself some liquor, some Pepto, and maybe some Tums. The history of this series is: No matter how confident you are, it's more likely you'll need it than not to get through this game.
