Brett Ludwiczak
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Ohio State vs. Michigan State: 2023 game preview and prediction
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Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports
The Buckeyes will be looking for their eighth-straight win over Michigan State, which would tie the longest win streak in the series.
Following a couple weeks on the road at Wisconsin and Rutgers, Ohio State returns to Columbus for two games at Ohio Stadium to close out their 2023 home schedule. The first of those games will be on Saturday night, when the Buckeyes host the Michigan State Spartans, and next week they’ll host Minnesota before the showdown in Ann Arbor with Michigan in two weeks.
Following a 35-16 win over Rutgers, Ohio State remained atop the College Football Playoff rankings for a second consecutive week. While the Buckeyes wound up covering the point spread, there were some nervy moments for Ryan Day’s team in New Jersey on Saturday. Ohio State trailed 9-7 in the third quarter before a 93-yard interception return by cornerback Jordan Hancock gave the Buckeyes the lead for good. With the victory, Ohio State stayed perfect against Rutgers, running their record to 10-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights.
Now the Buckeyes turn their attention to Michigan State, who have ruined a number of seasons for Ohio State by upsetting the Buckeyes. In 1998 and 2015 the Spartans took down undefeated Ohio State teams in Columbus, and back in 2013 the Spartans beat the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.
There have been five occasions where Michigan State has defeated Ohio State teams that were ranked in the top-five. The Buckeyes are 36-15 all-time against the Spartans, but just 17-9 when they host Michigan State.
While Ohio State has had trouble with Michigan State in the past, beating the Spartans hasn’t been a problem recently. With a win on Saturday night, the Buckeyes would extend their winning streak against Michigan State to eight games, which would tie their longest winning streak in the series. Since taking over as Ohio State head coach, Ryan Day is 4-0 against Michigan State, with his teams beating the Spartans by a combined score of 191-49.
Saturday night’s game will be just the sixth November night game at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won the previous five games in Columbus that have kicked off after five in the evening. The last November night game came back in 2020, when Ohio State beat Rutgers 49-27, but there were only just over 1,000 people in attendance since there were still crowd restrictions because of COVID-19. Prior to 2020, the last night game in November at Ohio State was in 2016 when the Buckeyes hosted Nebraska.
Along with this week’s game being the first night game at Ohio Stadium since the Buckeyes hosted Wisconsin last year, Ohio State will also be wearing their gray alternate uniforms. In the past the Buckeyes have had some good luck when changing out of their normal uniforms, posting a 26-7 record when wearing alternate uniforms. This will be the first time Ohio State has worn their all-gray alternate uniforms with scarlet lettering and numbering.
After returning to the field two weeks ago with 207 total yards of offense against Wisconsin, running back TreVeyon Henderson bettered that mark by a yard last week at Rutgers. The junior ran for 122 yards and a touchdown against the Scarlet Knights, and hauled in five catches for 80 yards on Saturday.
The biggest play of the game for Henderson came when he took a screen pass 65 yards to not only set Ohio State up in the red zone, but also register the first play of at least 40 yards on the season against the Rutgers defense. Henderson is now 63 yards away from passing Howard “Hopalong” Cassady for 19th all-time on Ohio State’s career rushing list.
While Henderson was finding room to operate last week at Rutgers, the same can’t be said for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who finished the game with just four catches for 25 yards. Not that Harrison didn’t make an impact in the game, as he was able haul in two touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights, raising his season total to 10 receiving touchdowns.
Now Harrison is now just 86 yards away from becoming the first Ohio State receiver to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in two seasons. Harrison has 140 career receptions, placing him just a few catches shy of moving past some great Buckeye receivers on the school’s all-time receiving list. Harrison now needs just four catches to pass Garrett Wilson and Parris Campbell, and six to move past Corey “Philly” Brown for seventh in school history.
Even though his play was inconsistent at times last week, quarterback Kyle McCord did set a school record last week. With seven consecutive completions to end the Wisconsin game, followed by 11 straight completions to start last week’s game, McCord broke C.J. Stroud’s school record of 17 consecutive completions. McCord threw for just 189 last week in the victory, marking the first time this season that he has failed to reach 200 yards passing.
As mentioned earlier, the Buckeye defense was sparked by Jordan Hancock early in the second half when the corner returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown. The Ohio State secondary needed a big effort from Hancock, since they were not only without cornerback Denzel Burke, safety Lathan Ransom also missed the game because of injury. With Ransom injured, Sonny Styles saw more time on the field, finishing last week’s game with seven tackles.
The secondary is a huge reason why the Buckeyes have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game so far this season. After being a liability at the end of last season, this year has been a whole different story for Ohio State. Defensive coordinator has put together a unit that has done a great job at keeping everything in front of them. Until last week’s game when Rutgers broke a big play on fourth down with the “fumblerooski”, the Buckeyes hadn’t given up a play of over 40 yards prior to that play.
Another reason why Ohio State’s defense has been so sound this year is because of the sure tackling of linebackers Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers, and Cody Simon. Eichenberg leads the team with 75 tackles, and is well on his way to another season where he eclipses 100 tackles. Chambers ranks second on the team with 54 tackles, while Simon has come on in recent weeks and earned himself more playing time.
The one area where the Buckeyes could use more consistency is with their defensive line play. Aside from Tyleik Williams, who has been great throughout the season, Ohio State sees some of their talented defensive ends disappear for periods of time. After seeing what J.T. Tuimoloau is capable of, it’s concerning he only has four sacks so far this season. The Buckeyes are going to need more from Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer against Michigan and if they make the College Football Playoff.
This year has been quite a tumultuous season for Michigan State. Head coach Mel Tucker was fired after sexual harassment allegations were levied against Tucker. Stepping in as acting head coach for the Spartans is secondary coach Harlon Bennett, who is in his 15th year on the Michigan State coaching staff. Bennett earned his first win last week when the Spartans beat Nebraska 20-17 in East Lansing, snapping a six-game losing streak.
A major reason for the struggles so far this year for Michigan State has been because of poor quarterback play. Noah Kim started the first five games of the year for the Spartans before he was replaced by Katin Houser. Kim had an issue with turnovers while starting, throwing six picks, while Houser has done a better job at taking care of the football, tossing just two interceptions. In the win over Nebraska, Houser completed 13-of-20 passes for 165 yards, which was his highest yardage total so far this season.
Senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. has established himself as Michigan State’s top receiving threat this year. The Cleveland native is leading the team with 33 receptions for 436 yards. Last week Foster has his best game so far this season, catching four passes for 94 yards and a score against the Cornhuskers. The touchdown reception actually came from backup quarterback Sam Leavitt on a trick play. Tre Mosley isn’t too far behind Foster in catches, hauling in 28 receptions.
When it comes to running the football, Michigan State really has just one option. UConn transfer Nathan Carter has 156 carries this season, while no other Spartan has more than 27 carries. There has been only one game so far this year where Carter hasn’t received at least 15 carries. The sophomore back has 659 yards rushing entering Saturday night’s contest, recording at least 100 yards rushing in three games so far this year.
Helping to clear the way for Carter is graduate senior J.D. Duplain, who will start at left guard for Michigan State. Duplain has started 39 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in school history. While Duplain is the only Spartan offensive lineman to start every game this year, Nick Samac has started every game aside from the season opener at center. Left tackle Brandon Baldwin missed last week’s contest after starting every game prior, while the only game Spencer Brown didn’t start was the game against Minnesota.
Michigan State’s defense has done an outstanding job at putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, registering 25 sacks so far this year. Last week’s performance against Nebraska was their best of the season, as they not only tied a season-high with seven sacks, they also finished the game with 12 tackles for loss. The 283 yards they gave up to the Cornhuskers marked the fifth time this year where the Spartans have held their opponent to under 300 yards of offense.
In the center of the Michigan State defense is linebacker Cal Haladay, who leads the team with 65 tackles. Along with all of those tackles, Haladay also has a nose for the football, recovering two fumbles and picking off a pick. Aaron Brule has been really good at pressuring opposing quarterbacks from his linebacker spot, recording four sacks. Rounding out the linebackers is Jordan Hall, who has 47 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
The secondary of Michigan State has been led by safety Jaden Mangham. The sophomore is tied for second in the Big Ten with four interceptions. Entering this week’s contest, Mangham has snatched an interception in back-to-back games. After starting for most of the seeason, Malik Spencer has played the last two weeks primarily at nickelback. Spencer is second on the team with 57 tackles, and has broken up five passes. Expect to also see Angelo Grose in the secondary, as the senior has two interceptions and five pass breakups.
The defensive line of the Spartans will be tasked with not only trying to get to quarterback Kyle McCord, but also slowing down running back TreVeyon Henderson. Simeon Barrow and Derrick Harmon will man the interior of the defensive line, while Jalen Thompson and Zion Young started at defensive end for Michigan State last week against Nebraska. Overall, the Spartans have started six different defensive ends so far this season.
Even though Michigan State was able to beat Nebraska last week, everything isn’t fixed for the Spartans. With the hiring of a new head coach coming in the offseason, this year is a lost season for Michigan State because of all the turmoil they have had to deal with. While that doesn’t mean the Spartans won’t play hard on Saturday night, they don’t have the talent and scheme to slow down Ohio State.
What the Spartans have to hope is Ohio State comes out sluggish and plays down to their competition, which is something they have done at times so far this year. When the Buckeyes are on, there’s not many teams around the country that can beat them. Unfortunately, some times it takes until the second half for Ohio State to find their rhythm and for quarterback Kyle McCord to settle down.
The return of running back TreVeyon Henderson has been a game-changer for Ohio State. Getting Henderson back on the field has taken some of the pressure off of Marvin Harrison Jr., who was shouldering a lot of the offensive load with Henderson and Emeka Egbuka out with injury. Henderson can not only hurt opponents on the ground, but he has proven to be a valuable security valve for McCord.
The Buckeyes know what is in front of them. Games against Michigan State and Minnesota before the showdown with Michigan at the end of the month. Returning home and playing under the lights in alternate uniforms should have the Buckeyes juiced up at kickoff. There’s really no reason this game should be close since the Spartans have questions on both sides of the football. This feels like it should be the most convincing win for the Buckeyes since last month’s game at Purdue.
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports
The Buckeyes will be looking for their eighth-straight win over Michigan State, which would tie the longest win streak in the series.
Following a couple weeks on the road at Wisconsin and Rutgers, Ohio State returns to Columbus for two games at Ohio Stadium to close out their 2023 home schedule. The first of those games will be on Saturday night, when the Buckeyes host the Michigan State Spartans, and next week they’ll host Minnesota before the showdown in Ann Arbor with Michigan in two weeks.
Following a 35-16 win over Rutgers, Ohio State remained atop the College Football Playoff rankings for a second consecutive week. While the Buckeyes wound up covering the point spread, there were some nervy moments for Ryan Day’s team in New Jersey on Saturday. Ohio State trailed 9-7 in the third quarter before a 93-yard interception return by cornerback Jordan Hancock gave the Buckeyes the lead for good. With the victory, Ohio State stayed perfect against Rutgers, running their record to 10-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights.
Series with Sparty
Now the Buckeyes turn their attention to Michigan State, who have ruined a number of seasons for Ohio State by upsetting the Buckeyes. In 1998 and 2015 the Spartans took down undefeated Ohio State teams in Columbus, and back in 2013 the Spartans beat the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis.
There have been five occasions where Michigan State has defeated Ohio State teams that were ranked in the top-five. The Buckeyes are 36-15 all-time against the Spartans, but just 17-9 when they host Michigan State.
While Ohio State has had trouble with Michigan State in the past, beating the Spartans hasn’t been a problem recently. With a win on Saturday night, the Buckeyes would extend their winning streak against Michigan State to eight games, which would tie their longest winning streak in the series. Since taking over as Ohio State head coach, Ryan Day is 4-0 against Michigan State, with his teams beating the Spartans by a combined score of 191-49.
Bright night lights
Saturday night’s game will be just the sixth November night game at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won the previous five games in Columbus that have kicked off after five in the evening. The last November night game came back in 2020, when Ohio State beat Rutgers 49-27, but there were only just over 1,000 people in attendance since there were still crowd restrictions because of COVID-19. Prior to 2020, the last night game in November at Ohio State was in 2016 when the Buckeyes hosted Nebraska.
Along with this week’s game being the first night game at Ohio Stadium since the Buckeyes hosted Wisconsin last year, Ohio State will also be wearing their gray alternate uniforms. In the past the Buckeyes have had some good luck when changing out of their normal uniforms, posting a 26-7 record when wearing alternate uniforms. This will be the first time Ohio State has worn their all-gray alternate uniforms with scarlet lettering and numbering.
Hendo continues to pace the Ohio State offense
After returning to the field two weeks ago with 207 total yards of offense against Wisconsin, running back TreVeyon Henderson bettered that mark by a yard last week at Rutgers. The junior ran for 122 yards and a touchdown against the Scarlet Knights, and hauled in five catches for 80 yards on Saturday.
The biggest play of the game for Henderson came when he took a screen pass 65 yards to not only set Ohio State up in the red zone, but also register the first play of at least 40 yards on the season against the Rutgers defense. Henderson is now 63 yards away from passing Howard “Hopalong” Cassady for 19th all-time on Ohio State’s career rushing list.
While Henderson was finding room to operate last week at Rutgers, the same can’t be said for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who finished the game with just four catches for 25 yards. Not that Harrison didn’t make an impact in the game, as he was able haul in two touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights, raising his season total to 10 receiving touchdowns.
Now Harrison is now just 86 yards away from becoming the first Ohio State receiver to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in two seasons. Harrison has 140 career receptions, placing him just a few catches shy of moving past some great Buckeye receivers on the school’s all-time receiving list. Harrison now needs just four catches to pass Garrett Wilson and Parris Campbell, and six to move past Corey “Philly” Brown for seventh in school history.
Even though his play was inconsistent at times last week, quarterback Kyle McCord did set a school record last week. With seven consecutive completions to end the Wisconsin game, followed by 11 straight completions to start last week’s game, McCord broke C.J. Stroud’s school record of 17 consecutive completions. McCord threw for just 189 last week in the victory, marking the first time this season that he has failed to reach 200 yards passing.
Hard to put points up on the Buckeyes
As mentioned earlier, the Buckeye defense was sparked by Jordan Hancock early in the second half when the corner returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown. The Ohio State secondary needed a big effort from Hancock, since they were not only without cornerback Denzel Burke, safety Lathan Ransom also missed the game because of injury. With Ransom injured, Sonny Styles saw more time on the field, finishing last week’s game with seven tackles.
The secondary is a huge reason why the Buckeyes have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game so far this season. After being a liability at the end of last season, this year has been a whole different story for Ohio State. Defensive coordinator has put together a unit that has done a great job at keeping everything in front of them. Until last week’s game when Rutgers broke a big play on fourth down with the “fumblerooski”, the Buckeyes hadn’t given up a play of over 40 yards prior to that play.
Another reason why Ohio State’s defense has been so sound this year is because of the sure tackling of linebackers Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers, and Cody Simon. Eichenberg leads the team with 75 tackles, and is well on his way to another season where he eclipses 100 tackles. Chambers ranks second on the team with 54 tackles, while Simon has come on in recent weeks and earned himself more playing time.
The one area where the Buckeyes could use more consistency is with their defensive line play. Aside from Tyleik Williams, who has been great throughout the season, Ohio State sees some of their talented defensive ends disappear for periods of time. After seeing what J.T. Tuimoloau is capable of, it’s concerning he only has four sacks so far this season. The Buckeyes are going to need more from Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer against Michigan and if they make the College Football Playoff.
A bright spot during a tough season
This year has been quite a tumultuous season for Michigan State. Head coach Mel Tucker was fired after sexual harassment allegations were levied against Tucker. Stepping in as acting head coach for the Spartans is secondary coach Harlon Bennett, who is in his 15th year on the Michigan State coaching staff. Bennett earned his first win last week when the Spartans beat Nebraska 20-17 in East Lansing, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Michigan State’s offense at a glance
A major reason for the struggles so far this year for Michigan State has been because of poor quarterback play. Noah Kim started the first five games of the year for the Spartans before he was replaced by Katin Houser. Kim had an issue with turnovers while starting, throwing six picks, while Houser has done a better job at taking care of the football, tossing just two interceptions. In the win over Nebraska, Houser completed 13-of-20 passes for 165 yards, which was his highest yardage total so far this season.
Senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. has established himself as Michigan State’s top receiving threat this year. The Cleveland native is leading the team with 33 receptions for 436 yards. Last week Foster has his best game so far this season, catching four passes for 94 yards and a score against the Cornhuskers. The touchdown reception actually came from backup quarterback Sam Leavitt on a trick play. Tre Mosley isn’t too far behind Foster in catches, hauling in 28 receptions.
When it comes to running the football, Michigan State really has just one option. UConn transfer Nathan Carter has 156 carries this season, while no other Spartan has more than 27 carries. There has been only one game so far this year where Carter hasn’t received at least 15 carries. The sophomore back has 659 yards rushing entering Saturday night’s contest, recording at least 100 yards rushing in three games so far this year.
Helping to clear the way for Carter is graduate senior J.D. Duplain, who will start at left guard for Michigan State. Duplain has started 39 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in school history. While Duplain is the only Spartan offensive lineman to start every game this year, Nick Samac has started every game aside from the season opener at center. Left tackle Brandon Baldwin missed last week’s contest after starting every game prior, while the only game Spencer Brown didn’t start was the game against Minnesota.
The Spartans on defense
Michigan State’s defense has done an outstanding job at putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, registering 25 sacks so far this year. Last week’s performance against Nebraska was their best of the season, as they not only tied a season-high with seven sacks, they also finished the game with 12 tackles for loss. The 283 yards they gave up to the Cornhuskers marked the fifth time this year where the Spartans have held their opponent to under 300 yards of offense.
In the center of the Michigan State defense is linebacker Cal Haladay, who leads the team with 65 tackles. Along with all of those tackles, Haladay also has a nose for the football, recovering two fumbles and picking off a pick. Aaron Brule has been really good at pressuring opposing quarterbacks from his linebacker spot, recording four sacks. Rounding out the linebackers is Jordan Hall, who has 47 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
The secondary of Michigan State has been led by safety Jaden Mangham. The sophomore is tied for second in the Big Ten with four interceptions. Entering this week’s contest, Mangham has snatched an interception in back-to-back games. After starting for most of the seeason, Malik Spencer has played the last two weeks primarily at nickelback. Spencer is second on the team with 57 tackles, and has broken up five passes. Expect to also see Angelo Grose in the secondary, as the senior has two interceptions and five pass breakups.
The defensive line of the Spartans will be tasked with not only trying to get to quarterback Kyle McCord, but also slowing down running back TreVeyon Henderson. Simeon Barrow and Derrick Harmon will man the interior of the defensive line, while Jalen Thompson and Zion Young started at defensive end for Michigan State last week against Nebraska. Overall, the Spartans have started six different defensive ends so far this season.
Summary
Even though Michigan State was able to beat Nebraska last week, everything isn’t fixed for the Spartans. With the hiring of a new head coach coming in the offseason, this year is a lost season for Michigan State because of all the turmoil they have had to deal with. While that doesn’t mean the Spartans won’t play hard on Saturday night, they don’t have the talent and scheme to slow down Ohio State.
What the Spartans have to hope is Ohio State comes out sluggish and plays down to their competition, which is something they have done at times so far this year. When the Buckeyes are on, there’s not many teams around the country that can beat them. Unfortunately, some times it takes until the second half for Ohio State to find their rhythm and for quarterback Kyle McCord to settle down.
The return of running back TreVeyon Henderson has been a game-changer for Ohio State. Getting Henderson back on the field has taken some of the pressure off of Marvin Harrison Jr., who was shouldering a lot of the offensive load with Henderson and Emeka Egbuka out with injury. Henderson can not only hurt opponents on the ground, but he has proven to be a valuable security valve for McCord.
The Buckeyes know what is in front of them. Games against Michigan State and Minnesota before the showdown with Michigan at the end of the month. Returning home and playing under the lights in alternate uniforms should have the Buckeyes juiced up at kickoff. There’s really no reason this game should be close since the Spartans have questions on both sides of the football. This feels like it should be the most convincing win for the Buckeyes since last month’s game at Purdue.
LGHL prediction: Ohio State 45, Michigan State 10
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