Ohio State will finish its first half of the regular season by playing on the road for the first time all year.
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MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS |
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2-3 ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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4 P.M. – SATURDAY, OCT. 8 SPARTAN STADIUM EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN |
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ABC WatchESPN |
After starting the year with five straight home games at Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes will travel to East Lansing, Michigan, this weekend for their biennial trip to Michigan State.
The Spartans haven’t beaten Ohio State in East Lansing since 1999, and they aren’t looking intimidating entering this year’s game after losing their last three games in a row. While the Spartans were ranked as high as 11th after starting the season 2-0, they’re now unranked and at the bottom of the Big Ten East standings with a 2-3 record.
Ohio State is ranked third in the country and looks like a national championship contender after a 5-0 start to the season in which the Buckeyes have won all their last four games by at least 31 points. But Ryan Day still feels like he has something to learn about his team this weekend when it plays away from the friendly confines of the Shoe for the first time in 2022.
“Going on the road, a tough place to play,” Day said. “Certainly a great stadium, a great environment. And it's gonna be hard to win up there. It always is. And this is the first time we're going on the road. So new challenge for us, new test. It's been unique that we’re into Week 6 here and haven't played a game on the road. It's been great, we got into a good rhythm, but now we've got to go get our first conference road game.”
The Headlines
First road trip of the year
As Day said, it’s unconventional for Ohio State to be five weeks into the season without having played a single road game yet. The last time the Buckeyes opened their season with five straight home games before going on the road was in 2003 – and they lost their first home game that year, 17-10, to Wisconsin after starting 5-0.
Even though Ohio State will reach the midpoint of its regular season after Saturday’s game in East Lansing, this weekend will be the first time any of the Buckeyes’ true freshmen have played away from home. And because the Buckeyes’ 2020 trip to Michigan State was played without fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only four of Ohio State’s current players actually played in the Buckeyes’ most recent game with fans in the stands at Spartan Stadium: Defensive starters Taron Vincent and Josh Proctor and defensive backups Tyler Friday and Teradja Mitchell, who all saw action against Michigan State as true freshmen in 2018.
That will make this weekend a test of the Buckeyes’ veteran leadership.
“I think the first thing you have to really lean on is your leadership. The guys who have done this before, guys who have been on the road and won conference games, understand what it's like,” Day said. “You're going from an environment at home, very different when you're on the road. And everybody has to stick together, and the older guys gotta lead the way and the veteran players have to play veteran.”
After having the fans on their side for their first five games of the season, the Buckeyes will have to acclimate to playing in a hostile environment where most of the crowd wants them to lose. But that’s a challenge the Buckeyes are embracing.
“It's gonna be fun to play in a hostile environment,” said Ohio State center Luke Wypler. “I'm pretty excited for that, the first one of the year, and kind of be like the bad guy in the arena. It's always nice to kind of be the villain.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio State hasn’t played in front of fans at Michigan State since 2018.
Struggling Spartans
While Ohio State enters its first road trip of the season with plenty of momentum, Michigan State is reeling. The Spartans have lost three straight games for the first time in three years and face a challenging path just to make a bowl game this year – after going 11-2 and winning the Peach Bowl last year – with Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State all still to come on their regular-season schedule.
Michigan State, whose only wins this season came against Western Michigan (35-13) and Akron (52-0), have struggled on both sides of the ball amid losing to Washington (39-28), Minnesota (34-7) and Maryland (27-13). The Spartans currently rank 92nd nationally in total offense, 88th in scoring offense, 99th in total defense and 54th in scoring defense, and among the bottom five in the Big Ten in all four categories.
Still, the Spartans should theoretically be capable of playing much better than they have, considering they brought back most of their starters from a year ago. The Buckeyes didn’t have any trouble with last year’s Spartans anyway, beating them 56-7 in Columbus, but Day says Ohio State isn’t taking Michigan State lightly.
“I know they've lost a couple of games here, but we're expecting a top-10 team when we go up to East Lansing,” Day said. “Well-coached, really good players, had an excellent season last year and those guys are still there.”
Much like last year, Michigan State’s pass defense has been among the worst in the country, allowing 275 passing yards per game without making a single interception yet this season. The Spartans’ passing offense will be the best Ohio State has faced so far this season, even though they still rank in the bottom half of the Big Ten in that category with only 243 passing yards per game.
“Probably the most skilled team we’ve played to date,” Day said of Michigan State.
Buckeyes still banged up
As has been the case entering most of their games this season, one of the biggest questions for the Buckeyes going into their first road game is whether all of their key players will actually make the trip or if some of them will be kept home with injuries.
Ohio State will release its status report of unavailable players and game-time decisions at 9 a.m. Saturday, though many of those decisions will have to be made Friday since the Big Ten only permits teams to carry 74 players on their travel rosters.
Day said multiple times this week he is hopeful TreVeyon Henderson will be back in the running back rotation after missing last week’s game against Rutgers due to injury. He did not specify whether he thought defensive backs Tanner McCalister, Cameron Brown or Cameron Martinez would be able to play this week after McCalister left the Rutgers game with an injury and Brown and Martinez were unavailable. However, Day indicated things were moving positively for each of them. Star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, however, sounds likely to miss his third straight game after reinjuring his hamstring against Toledo, though not for any lack of desire to return on Smith-Njigba’s part.
“Nobody wants to get back more than Jaxon,” Day said. “It's been frustrating, I know, for him and so we're just taking it on a week-to-week basis and hopefully he can start making some progress and we can get him back on the field.”
Michigan State has also been plagued by injuries in the first half of the season, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The Spartans were without three of their top defensive linemen – defensive ends Khris Bogle and Jeff Pietrowski Jr. and defensive tackle Jacob Slade – last week, while starting linebacker Darius Snow is out for the season and star safety Xavier Henderson has been out since their season opener.
“I think you're seeing that across the country right now,” Day said. “Just you know, guys having to play depth. And no different here.”
Keep An Eye on These Guys
WR Jayden Reed
Going into the 2022 season, Reed and Smith-Njigba were the frontrunners to be this year’s All-Big Ten wide receivers. Like Smith-Njigba, Reed has dealt with injury this season – in his case, a back injury – though he only had to miss one game and has been back in the lineup for Michigan State’s past two games.
While he hasn’t yet put up big numbers this season, catching 19 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown, he’s still the biggest threat Ohio State’s defense must be prepared for this week. A 6-foot, 190-pound wideout who had 59 catches for 1,026 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2021, Reed is the best wide receiver Ohio State has faced yet this year and will present a test for a cornerback unit that has dealt with injuries and some inconsistency all year.
“Reed is a playmaker for sure,” Day said. “Really fast, really athletic. He's a problem in man-to-man. So we gotta do a great job of knowing where he is.”
DE Jacoby Windmon
Windmon has been one of the most productive defensive ends in the country this season, already recording eight tackles for loss with 5.5 sacks. He leads the Big Ten in both categories and the entire nation with four forced fumbles.
The UNLV transfer put up most of those numbers in the first two weeks of the season, when he earned back-to-back Big Ten defensive player of the week honors as well as national defensive player of the week honors for his four-sack game against Western Michigan. He’s continued to grade out highly even in Michigan State’s losses, though, and currently has the highest Pro Football Focus grade (90.5) of any FBS edge defender who has played at least 100 snaps this year.
Ohio State offensive tackles Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones have shut down just about everyone they’ve faced this season, including highly touted edge rushers Isaiah Foskey and Nick Herbig in the Buckeyes’ wins over Notre Dame and Wisconsin, but the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Windmon will give them another test.
“They've done a good job last year and they do a good job this year of trying to create chaos in the backfield. They've upgraded in certain areas with some new players in the front,” Day said of Michigan State’s pass rush. “We know what they're capable of. And they're very talented.”
P Bryce Baringer
I would never have thought I’d highlight a punter in this section of the preview two weeks in a row, but Baringer has been the best punter in the country so far this season, averaging 53.3 yards per punt – a full four yards more than any other qualifying punter in the FBS.
We’ve seen punters play a big role in Ohio State vs. Michigan State games before – like Drue Chrisman’s spectacular day in East Lansing in 2018 – and the Spartans might need to call on Baringer often if their offense continues to play like it has the past couple of weeks. Michigan State will need more than great punting to have a chance to beat Ohio State, but his ability to flip the field is a weapon the Buckeyes have to account for in their plan to win.
“We gotta do a good job in terms of holding (Michigan State’s punt gunners) up. We also gotta put a little pressure on (Baringer) and go after them a little bit and try to speed it up,” Day said. “But I think getting a 10-to-15 yard return is a first down on offense, and that's how we have to look at it in the battle of field position. So a good challenge for our team.”
Game Week Talk
“They're still very much the same team they were last year.”– Ryan Day on Michigan State
Day meant this as a compliment, saying he views the Spartans as being closer to the top-10 team they were a year ago than their recent results would indicate. Still, the Buckeyes will be very happy if this year’s game against Michigan State is anything like last year’s game against Michigan State.
“I'm going to be excited to play in front of fans there for the first time … I don't have great memories there.”– Luke Wypler on playing at Michigan State
Late in Ohio State’s 52-12 win over Michigan State in 2020, Wypler – who was making just his third game appearance for the Buckeyes as a true freshman – scored two points for the Spartans when he snapped the ball over Jack Miller’s head for a safety. He says that’s “definitely something that won’t happen again,” but it gives him extra motivation to play better in his return to East Lansing this year.
“First of all, you have to believe, that’s one. And then you have to strip the name off the jersey and go to work in preparation and go and play the next play during the game.”– Mel Tucker on what Michigan State must do to have a chance to win
Michigan State’s head coach isn’t naive to the “tremendous challenge” that lies ahead for his squad, describing Ohio State’s offense as “extraordinary in the run game and also in the pass game” and its defense as “very decisive.” But he says the Spartans need to believe in their own ability and focus on executing their game plan rather than on how they’re playing the third-ranked team in the country.
| Ohio State | Pos | Michigan State |
|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | ||
| C.J. STROUD | QB | PAYTON THORNE |
| MIYAN WILLIAMS | RB | JALEN BERGER |
| MARVIN HARRISON JR. | WR | KEON COLEMAN |
| JULIAN FLEMING | WR | JAYDEN REED |
| EMEKA EGBUKA | WR | TRE MOSLEY |
| CADE STOVER | TE | TYLER HUNT |
| PARIS JOHNSON JR. | LT | JARRETT HORST |
| DONOVAN JACKSON | LG | J.D. DUPLAIN |
| LUKE WYPLER | C | NICK SAMAC |
| MATT JONES | RG | MATT CARRICK |
| DAWAND JONES | RT | SPENCER BROWN |
| DEFENSE | ||
| ZACH HARRISON | DE | BRANDON WRIGHT |
| JACK SAWYER | DE | JACOBY WINDMON |
| TARON VINCENT | DT | SIMEON BARROW JR. |
| MIKE HALL | DT | DERRICK HARMON |
| STEELE CHAMBERS | WLB | BEN VANSUMEREN |
| TOMMY EICHENBERG | MLB | CAL HALADAY |
| KYE STOKES | NB | ANGELO GROSE |
| DENZEL BURKE | CB | AMEER SPEED |
| JK JOHNSON | CB | CHARLES BRANTLEY |
| RONNIE HICKMAN | S | JADEN MANGHAM |
| JOSH PROCTOR | S | KENDELL BROOKS |
Get Smart
- Since its 17-14 loss to Michigan State in 2015, Ohio State has won its last six straight games against Michigan State by an average of more than 29 points.
- Ohio State has a 35-15 all-time record against Michigan State.
- Excluding 2020 (when the season did not start until late October), Saturday’s game will be Ohio State’s latest road opener since it played its first road game of the season on Oct. 8 in 2005, when it suffered a 17-10 loss to Penn State in its road opener.
- Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe will call Saturday’s game for ABC, marking the third time in six weeks that broadcast crew has called an Ohio State game.
- Michigan State’s roster features 12 players from Ohio, including its starting interior offensive line trio of J.D. Duplain (Strongsville), Nick Samac (Mentor) and Matt Carrick (Minerva) and five players who have started games on defense: Jacob Slade (Lewis Center), Jeff Pietrowski Jr. (Medina), Brandon Wright (Euclid), Angelo Grose (Mansfield) and Xavier Henderson (Reynoldsburg). Backup safety A.J. Kirk (Columbus) is the younger brother of legendary Ohio State safety Mike Doss.
- Michigan State backup linebacker Ma’a Gaoteote is the younger brother of Ohio State backup linebacker Palaie Gaoteote.
- Ohio State’s roster includes five players from Michigan: safety Cameron Martinez, long snapper Bradley Robinson, offensive lineman Grant Toutant, running back Cayden Saunders and wide receiver Kai Saunders.
- Michigan State will wear throwback helmets in Saturday’s game with the same triple stripe design the Spartans wore in 1998 when they beat Ohio State 28-24 as a 27.5-point underdog – a nearly identical spread to how much the Buckeyes are favored by this year.
Pound-for-Pound #RELENTLESS pic.twitter.com/avueOW2uKl
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) October 7, 2022
How It Plays Out
Line: Ohio State -27, O/U 65
Michigan State has a history of pulling off unexpected upsets over Ohio State, and playing on the road is a variable the Buckeyes will be dealing with for the first time this season. Both of those could be reasons to believe this game will be closer than it looks on paper.
On paper, though, this game should be another blowout win for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes have been far better than Michigan State on offense and defense. The Spartans’ 115th-ranked pass defense isn’t likely to hold up well against C.J. Stroud and Ohio State’s vast array of receiving weapons (even without Smith-Njigba). Michigan State’s passing offense poses a bit more of a threat than any of Ohio State’s first five opponents. However, it’s still hard to envision the Spartans scoring much against the Buckeyes after scoring only 20 total points in their last two games.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise if there are a few bumpy moments for the Buckeyes as they get acclimated to playing away from Columbus, but it would come as a shock if they don’t return home from East Lansing with a win.
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