No. 4 Ohio State has dominated everyone that they’ve played in the first five weeks. No. 25 Michigan State should be their first real test.
With both of these teams being 2-0 in the Big Ten coming into this one, they will each look to gain an advantage in the Big Ten East.
The Buckeyes have won the last three meetings between the schools but it has typically been a closely contested game throughout the years. In 2016, Ohio State won by a point, in 2015 the Buckeyes lost on a game-winning field goal, and in 2013 these two schools met up in the Big Ten Championship game before the reshaping of the divisions in the Big Ten took place. Michigan State got the better of the Buckeyes in that game too.
Now that the Buckeyes and the Spartans both reside in the same division, they play each other every season and each meeting usually has some significance to it.
This one is no different with the Buckeyes coming into this one as the No. 4 team in the country and looking like one of the most complete teams in college football. Michigan State’s season sputtered a bit with a loss to Arizona State, but back to back Big Ten wins has put them back on track as they come into this one ranked No. 25 in the country.
Ohio State’s offense has been nothing short of electric this season behind new quarterback Justin Fields and third-year running back J.K. Dobbins. But the highest-ranked defense that Ohio State has faced so far is Cincinnati, who’s ranked as the No. 29 defense in the country. Michigan State brings that to a new level as they come into this one ranked the No. 13 defense in college football.
The same can’t be said for the Spartan offense though, as while they have put up some decent numbers against bad defenses this season, Brian Lewerke just hasn’t been an accurate passer this season. He threw for just over a 54 percent completion rate last year and it hasn’t improved much in 2019 either as through five games, Lewerke has only completed about 59 percent of his passes.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Stadium: Ohio Stadium
TV Channel: ABC
Odds: Ohio State -21.0 (Bovada)
Over/Under: 49.0 (Bovada)
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Prediction: I thought that last week’s game against Nebraska was going to be much closer than what it was for the Buckeyes. But the Nebraska defense just isn’t good. This Spartan defense is a much different story and should give even Fields some problems as the game goes on. The problem for the Spartans is that this isn’t the Buckeye defense of last season, so I don’t envision Lewereke being able to move the ball very well on a stout Ohio State defense. Give me Michigan State to cover a huge spread for two ranked opponents and the under.
Score: Ohio State 30, Michigan State 14