Michigan State Debriefing: Mike Weber Carries the Team, LJ Scott Tears Through Ohio State & Gareon Conley Ices the Game

Ohio State opened as a 22-point favorite over Michigan State. Turns out, the Buckeyes couldn't even score 22 points.

In tundra-like conditions in East Lansing with wind gusting and snow falling, the Spartans gave No. 2 Ohio State all they could and more. As a 3-7 team with no postseason on the horizon, Michigan State had nothing to lose Saturday and it showed.

Sparty played with the chip of a MAC team, but with the talent of a national powerhouse. Dino pulled out all the stops too, calling a fake punt, a reverse and late-game two-point conversion.

It was valiant, but wasn't enough. In an ugly, ugly game, Ohio State came away with a 17-16 win.

It wasn't the result Ohio State dreamed of, but it's about as good as you could ask from a mid-November road trip to Michigan State.

Let's debrief.

The Short Story

Michigan State quickly announced its intent to play for the win when LJ Scott took a screen pass 64 yards to the house on the second play from scrimmage. From that point on, it was a typical Ohio State—Michigan State dog fight. Ohio State never led by more than one score in the game and it took a few huge defensive plays to seal the deal for the Buckeyes and the scarlet and gray escaped East Lansing 17-16.

Who Earned a Buckeye Leaf?

Offense: Mike Weber

Without Mike Weber's contributions, Ohio State likely does not escape East Lansing with a victory.

Weber rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts, while also becoming just the third freshman in school history to break the 1,000 yard mark in a season.

Last week, it was revealed Weber has been playing through an AC joint injury for much of the season. Shades of Ezekiel Elliott's wrist in 2014, the injury hasn't slowed him down one bit.

Defense: Chris Worley

Chris Worley was huge for Ohio State on Saturday, playing perhaps his best game in a Buckeye uniform.

The linebacker had a team-high seven total tackles (five solo), a tackle for a loss and an interception.

Plays of the Game

Offense

There weren't many choices, really. Ohio State scored just two touchdowns and had few explosive plays aside from the one we already showed above.

So by default (and also because Curtis Samuel is remarkably good at football) I give you this:

To quote my father, D.J. Byrnes, "The ol' play-action is a great ruse. Defense thinks it's a run, but it switches! It's actually a pass."

That poor soul was left alone to cover the most dynamic player in college football. It did not work out in his favor.

Defense

As Tim (who is objectively the best looking guy on staff) talked about yesterday, the Silver Bullets came up huge in the final moments of Saturday's game.

In three consecutive defensive plays, Ohio State had an interception on what would have been go-ahead Spartan two-point conversion, a strip sack and a game-sealing interception.

I'm not going to pick just one, so you can have them all.

Biggest Surprise

After a game where Curtis Samuel scored literally every third time he touched the ball, it was shocking to see him touch the ball just eight times in a game where the team desperately needed offensive production.

Obviously, his touches receptions were limited with the windy conditions, but eight touches throughout the whole game was quite a surprise.

Jim Tressel's Least Favorite Moment

A noon kickoff meant Jim Tressel's morning flea market trip would have to be a short one, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make in order to see what was sure to be a beauty of a football game. Plus, he would finally get to bed at a decent hour.

Earlier in the week, Tressel had used his radio to check the weather, and it was just as he'd hoped: cold, wind, snow and ice – perfect for Big Ten football.

Tressel had another hidden reason for his excitement; he loved Michigan State's style of play. After 10 games of frustration with Urban Meyer's refusal to use the I-formation, distain for kicking field goals and insistence to use punting only as a last resort, Tressel was excited to watch a team he could count on to play football as it should be played.

He wasn't going to root for the Spartans, but he sure was going to enjoy how they played football.

For four quarters, he got exactly what he wanted. Michigan State ran the football, rarely threw it, punted often and kicked a field goal within range. Then, when the Spartans scored what looked to be a game-tying touchdown, everything changed.

Mark Dantonio, a good friend and Jim Tressel protege, sent his offense back onto the field to go for the two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point. Moments later, the conversion failed, and Tressel sat in disappointment.

"You just can't trust anyone anymore," Tressel said sadly, feeling betrayed.

At least the Buckeyes won.

Biggest Blunder

After the game, the player with the most Curtis Samuel-esque statline wasn't Curtis Samuel, it was LJ Scott.

Scott finished with 19 carries for 160 yards and a touchdown and had two catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, which came on the second play from scrimmage when he took a 64 yard screen pass to the house.

The biggest blunder, however, was that I picked Ohio State to win 69-3. Crying Jordan me.

Underrated Thing

In Urban Meyer's tenure, Ohio State has played Michigan State five times and the series could not be more even. In those five games,  the Buckeyes have 121 points and Sparty has 120.

Dantonio has been Urban Meyer's kryptonite. Thankfully, the Buckeyes were able to escape the voodoo this time.

It Was Over When

Gareon Conley snatched a Tyler O'Connor duck out of the air on Michigan State's final drive. After that, a couple J.T. Barrett kneel downs officially sealed it and Ohio State escaped with a 17-16 win.

Biggest Question Going Forward

Only one question remains, and its the most important one yet: will Ohio State beat that team up north?