Ohio State football’s playoff hopes rest on matchup with Michigan State
There’s a lot of pressure riding on Saturday’s game at No. 18 Michigan State as Ohio State football’s playoff hopes are hanging on by a thread.
It has been a year of struggles for both Ohio State and Michigan State coming into their matchup this Saturday. Ohio State is still very much in the Big Ten Championship race, even with their blowout loss to Purdue in West Lafayette, but the Buckeyes have major issues on the field. Their biggest issue has been the lack of run game, only getting back on track last week against a lowly Nebraska run defense.
The Buckeyes lone bright spot has been Dwayne Haskins, who has been putting up ridiculous passing numbers, 3,053 passing yards for 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. But it has been overshadowed by the Buckeyes issues in the run game, the offensive line in general, and the perceived health of head coach Urban Meyer, who has been said to be suffering chronic headache’s throughout the season.
Michigan State has had struggles this season as well, especially with the injury bug. According to Sports-Reference, the Spartans have 12 players on the roster out for Ohio State and four players that are questionable. A quarterback battle may also be brewing in East Lansing between Brian Lewerke and redshirt freshman Rocky Lombardi, who has seen extended playing time in the Spartans last two games.
Here’s where to catch this high noon, Big Ten showdown:
Date: Saturday, Nov. 10
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: East Lansing, Mich.
Venue: Spartan Stadium
TV: FOX
Live Stream: FOXSportsGo or FuboTV
Keys to Victory
It’s going to be a physical battle between this two teams, it almost always is. In that case, Ohio State has to find a running game and find it early. If Dwayne Haskins is forced to throw the ball 70 times like he was against Purdue, it’s going to be an ugly day for the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s defense also has to do better job in defending the run, as both Brian Lewerke and Rocky Lombardi are quarterbacks who can run along with L.J. Scott and Connor Heyward.
Michigan State, on the other hand, will have ensure that the Ohio State rushing attack of Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins does not get going. The Spartans possess one of the best rush defenses in the country, only allowing 71.7 yards per game. The offense for the Spartans has to be efficient, whether it is led by Lewerke or Lombardi, Michigan State has to take advantage of every opportunity the Buckeyes give them.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of OddsShark
Line: Ohio State -3.5
Over/Under: 52
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Prediction
This is not going to be like last years game, where the Buckeyes came out guns ‘ablazin’ and ran roughshod over the unsuspecting Spartans. Ohio State has a lot of issues that even teams as bad as Nebraska have exposed. Assuming these issues are not addressed, I see the Buckeyes being in big trouble in this game. That, paired with the level excitement anticipated at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, give me enough confidence to think Michigan State pulls off the upset.
Prediction: Ohio State 28, Michigan State 31