The Ohio State Buckeyes aim to remedy to their recent lackluster performances and avoid an upset against the Michigan State Spartans in Week 11.
The Ohio State Buckeyes appeared to be a College Football Playoff contender early in the 2018 season. In recent weeks, however, they’ve looked like a team that would be lucky to be in the Big Ten Championship. Not only were they run off the field in an upset loss to Purdue, but they had to stave off a bad Nebraska team last week. On Saturday, they’ll be truly tested with a trip to East Lansing to face the Michigan State Spartans.
Make no mistake, Michigan State has not been good or consistent this season. A team whose offense was supposed to be impressive this season has been without a 100 percent L.J. Scott for much of the year and has seen Brian Lewerke struggle as the head man at quarterback. Having said that, they still have notched a few upset wins.
Those upset wins for Sparty have come on the back of their defense. Mark Dantonio’s team uglies the game up and succeeds off of that sort of play. That’s most certainly what they’ll be looking to do on their home field on Saturday and, with how OSU has been playing, it might be possible.
When looking at the recent issues for Ohio State, they’re all over. On offense, Dwayne Haskins has been good, but far from great as he was early in the year. More pressingly, the run game has been inconsistent at best, which has crippled the offense’s ability to consistently control the clock and, thus, the game.
Where the Buckeyes have been most troublesome, though, is on defense. They’ve allowed 80 combined points to Purdue and Nebraska over the past two weeks, and it’s not just missing Nick Bosa that’s causing it. The secondary has been getting beat and the front seven has failed to play disciplined up front. When you combine all of that, they are susceptible in all areas of the field.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, Nov. 10
Start Time: Noon ET
Location: East Lansing, MI
Stadium: Spartan Stadium
TV Info: FOX
Live Stream: FuboTV, FOX Sports Go
Despite their recent performances and despite being on the road in this game, the Buckeyes are still favored by four points over the Spartans. More interestingly though, the oddsmakers clearly believe this one will be a low-scoring type of affair given where the Over/Under line sits.
Betting Odds (via Odds Shark)
Point Spread: Ohio State -4
Moneyline: Ohio State -190, Michigan State +165
Over/Under: 48
Prediction
In terms of talent, there’s no doubt that Ohio State is the better team in this matchup. With how the Buckeyes have been playing though, it’s clear that something is off with them right now, specifically defensively. Given that Michigan State’s biggest weakness could be quelled by the Buckeye’s defensive struggles, this one’s going to be an upset for Sparty.
Final Score: Ohio State 24, Michigan State 27