Game Preview: Ohio State vs Michigan State
The Buckeyes cruised through their first three game of the season against their non-conference opponents, and are ready to start Big Ten play on the road for the first time this season against Michigan State, who are coming off of a loss. Reports from the Ohio State beat is that the Buckeyes are ramping up the intensity of their practices as the challenge of the opponents increase, and they can finally play a team without the national media challenging their schedule for a lack of Power 4 opponent.
Peacock will host the game at 7:30pm, a change that was adjusted earlier this week when it was first announced as 7pm for kickoff, but hopefully that means there are fewer commercials and stoppages for this game.
Know The Opponent:
Head Coach: Jonathan Smith (1st season)
2024 Record: 3-1
Conference: Big Ten
Location: East Lansing, MI
Ohio State Preview
Ohio State enters this game undefeated, outscoring their opponents 157 – 20, and ranking in the top 10 in both overall offense and defense. They made light work of Akron and Western Michigan, and had a slow start against Marshall before winning by 35 points. If you ask the coaches, it feels like they are the team coming into the game with a loss.
“I don’t feel good about anything,” Day said. “That’s just my mindset. Yeah, I don’t. And that has to be everybody’s mindset. You start to feel good about something and complacency can sneak up on you fast. So, no, nobody feels good about anything.”
Will Howard, who grew up in Pennsylvania and watch Big Ten football, is getting his first start in conference play and is excited for the opportunity.
“Man, I’m excited,” said Howard, “It’s going to be a night game. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be popping. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s a cool opportunity. The nonconference games were fun, but we know it gets real.”
Howard has been solid to start the season passing for 795 yards, and completing 69% of his passes. He has thrown for 6 touchdowns and just 1 interception, while also rushing for 2 touchdowns and 22 yards on 8 carries.
Howard has not needed to do much running though when you have the two headed monster of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson running the ball they way they have been the first three games. Judkins has had 36 carries for 336 yards and 5 touchdowns. Henderson has added 204 yards on 24 carries with 4 touchdowns. They goal of keeping them healthy has been working so far.
At receiver, freshman Jeremiah Smith still leads the team with 14 catches and 281 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is the only one on the team with more than 1 touchdown. Emeka Egbuka has his break out game last week, and is second on the team in yardage with 266 yards on 14 catches. Carnell Tate is third on the team with 11 catches for 167 yards.
Michigan State Preview
The Spartans brought in a new head coach this offseason from Oregon State in Jonathan Smith, who lead the Beavers to a 34-35 record. His team is already 1-0 in conference play after beating Maryland in Week 2, and has a 3-1 record. They enter this game with a loss to Boston College, who was Ohio State’s offensive coordinator for a few weeks in March, and the Eagles won in the last 88 seconds of the game.
Ahead of this game, the Spartans will have Oregon, Iowa, and Michigan next to play, but Smith is not hitting the panic button just yet.
“There’s definitely not panic, at least in our building,” Smith said. “At the same time, there’s a sense of urgency. We want to be playing our best football at the end. We got to keep on improving. We had opportunity to win a game, but we also had opportunity to be sitting here at one and three. We’ve been able to finish on a field. The last game we didn’t.”
Michigan State is led by quarterback Aidan Chiles, who is a dual threat, and has passed for 891 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, and completing 54% of his passes so far this season. He has also rushed the ball for 95 yards on 27 carries and 3 touchdowns.
Kay’Ron Lynch Adams is the lead running back with 49 carries for 271 yards and 1 touchdown. Nate Carter is second on the team with 47 carries for 207 yards and 1 touchdown. Both running backs have had 60+ yard rushes so far this season.
Nick Marsh is the lead receiver, with 11 catches for 232 yards and 1 touchdown, followed by Montorie Foster Jr, who has 17 catches for 200 yards and a touchdown. The Spartans use their tight end in the passing game as well, as Jack Velling is third on the team with 12 ctaches for 159 yards.
Buckeye Spotlight
Quinshon Judkins. The transfer running back has been on a tear the last two games, and showing his second level speed and elusiveness that made him one of the best running backs in the SEC. Can he break another 100 yard rushing game, and is he the top choice at the moment for a Heisman candidate on this roster?
Spartan Spotlight
Armorion Smith. Normally this spot is for who I think will be the most impactful player on the opposing team, and I am sure the junior cornerback is a solid player, you would have to be to play for a D-1 football team, but this is a special kind of spotlight. Armorion lost his mother on August 19 to cancer, and while being a full time student athlete, he still found the time to become the legal guardian of his 5 siblings. As a parent, and especially to younger kids, this story by Larry Lage was a really great spotlight on Armorion, and I wish this kid the best on the field and in life. Please take the time to read it if you get the chance.
Water Cooler Stat of the Game
8. Ohio State has led the series against Michigan State 37-15 in the overall record, and their longest win streak during that time is 8 wins. That happened twice in the series. The first time was between 1975 to 1984. The other time is the current win streak for the Buckeyes since 2016 (we don’t talk about the 2015 game), and with a win, they would have their longest win streak in the series at 9.
Prediction
The great thing about this team is that they have experience in all 3 phases, and even though Will Howard is starting for his “first year” with the Buckeyes, I think his years of experience playing on the road in some of the bigger stadiums in the Big 12 will prepare him for the Michigan State environment. Michigan State will come out with their best shot of trying to upset the Buckeyes, but I think the talent and the discipline of the team in silver helmets will be the difference. I see the Buckeyes winning this one comfortably like they have the last few seasons, and the Buckeyes move to 4-0.
Ohio State 45 – Michigan State 6
Photo Credit: Kyle Robertson – The Columbus Dispatch