My Thoughts.....Michigan State

                           

                        “A butt-kicking that could’ve been worse” is the way I would first describe Ohio State’s 49-37 thrashing of the Michigan State Spartans.  In the process, the Buckeyes avenged a devastating league championship game loss and notched an enormous signature win.  Quarterback J.T. Barrett sliced and diced the Spartans defense, ranked as number five in the land for 300 yards through the air and 86 yards on the ground and two scores.  The offensive line, from midway through the second quarter on, held Michigan State’s vaunted front four at bay, enabling the offense to rack up an unbelievable 586 yards of total offense.  It was also good to see Devin  Smith awaken from a mid-season slump and light up the Spartan secondary to the tune of six catches for 129 yards and a score.  His huge 43-yard catch on third-and-23 allowed Ohio State to later tie the game up at 14-all early in the second quarter and his 44-yard touchdown catch with 56 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Buckeyes a 28-21 lead, an advantage they wouldn't relinquish.  Almost lost due to the incredible game by Barrett was the play of Ezeliel Elliott who gashed MSU’s defense for 154 yards on the ground and two scores.  His twisting, turning 47 yard run on Ohio State’s second possession was the start of a long night for defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi and the Spartan defense.  What became evident is the inability of Narduzzi and their defense to adjust to Ohio State’s offensive schemes and how much the speed difference was.  This was driven home when, trailing 21-14, Michael Bennett took a short slant from Barrett and completely toasted All-conference DB Kurtiss Drummond who didn’t even come close to catching him on a 79-yard touchdown play, which occurred at the game’s turning point.  Unfortunately, Ohio State’s special teams had put them in a hole with Sean Nuernberger missing a field goal and Dontre Wilson acquiring a case of butterfingers.  A costly penalty kept the Spartans from having a two touchdown lead and then their missed field goal led to the Thomas score.

The defense wasn't exactly lights out as Michigan State racked up 536 yards of total offense, didn't turn the ball over, went 8/15 on 3rd down and saw Jeremy Langford rush for 137 yards and three touchdowns but they did what they needed to do to help win the game. While this defense is obviously improved over last year's shit show of a unit, room for improvement remains.  Michigan State’s potent offense managed 37 points and Joey Bosa didn’t do much, but the defense did well in some areas.  Even though Connor Cook finished with 358 yards through the air, but Doran Grant was up to the challenge as he was mostly responsible for holding Tony Lippett to a paltry 64 yards receiving and no scores.  Eli Apple also played well in the secondary, notching four tackles, a TFL, and two pass breakups and Vonn Bell added seven tackles and one pass breakup.  It seemed as though the Spartan offensive line was very concerned with Joey Bosa, but that allowed for Michael Bennett and Adolphus Washington to have their best games of the season.  Bennett was constantly in the Spartan backfield and tallied four stops, two TFL, a forced fumble, a batted down pass and a sack.  Washington also came up big with six stops, a TFL, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. With Bosa neutralized, solid efforts from those two was huge.  Finally, Darron Lee was his usual disruptive self with six solo tackles and a pass breakup.  The defense made plays when they had to and continue to show improvement over last year, especially in pass coverage.
The Buckeyes now have to avoid a let down as they travel to Minneapolis to take on a Minnesota team that is definitely no pushover in what will be the toughest of their three remaining regular season contests.