After a pair of Big Ten road trips to Wisconsin and Rutgers, Ohio State is back in the Shoe for another conference bout this Saturday.
Michigan State
Spartans
Its opponent, Michigan State, is a foe that was once feared – the Spartans wrecked Ohio State’s national championship chances in both 2013 and 2015 – but has posed less and less of a threat with each passing year.
The Buckeyes have won each of their last seven meetings with MSU, with each of their last six victories coming by 20 or more points. As a program, the Spartans have won more than seven games just once in the past six seasons after achieving that feat six times in the eight years prior to that stretch.
It’s already a guarantee they won’t win more than seven games this year as Michigan State is off to a 3-6 start in 2023. But the team's biggest storyline has been off the field, and certainly not in a good way.
Program in turmoil
Here's where the lede lies buried because Michigan State’s 3-6 start comes as no surprise given the controversy surrounding its program, namely now-former head coach Mel Tucker.
On Sept. 10, hours after the Spartans wrapped up their second game of the season against Richmond, it was reported that Tucker was accused of sexual harassment by Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who had formerly worked with Tucker to educate Michigan State’s players about sexual assault prevention.
The Michigan State athletic department fired Tucker for cause on Sept. 18. Defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett took over as interim head coach when Tucker was first suspended and has continued in that role since Tucker’s dismissal.
Former Michigan State head coach and Ohio State defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio, the winningest head coach in Spartans history, returned to the program as an associate head coach to help Barnett lead the team forward.
Since Tucker’s firing, the team has gone 1-6.
Least in the East
Michigan State finally picked up its first Big Ten win this past weekend, besting Nebraska 20-17 in a tight battle. The Spartans’ record now stands at 1-5 in conference play.
That places them in a tie for last place in the East division with Indiana, who also stands at 1-5 in league play this season after upsetting Wisconsin 20-14 on Saturday.
It appears unlikely that the Spartans will so much as reach bowl eligibility this year. They would have to pull off a shocker against Ohio State then win out at Indiana and against No. 11 Penn State just to get to six wins.
Answers lacking at quarterback
Under the leadership of two separate quarterbacks who have produced similar numbers on the season, Michigan State’s passing offense ranks 82nd in yards per game, 94th in completion percentage and 96th in yards per attempt.
In total, the Spartans have a touchdown-to-interception ratio of just 1.1 with 10 scoring tosses against nine interceptions.
Noah Kim took up the mantle as the team’s starter at the beginning of the season but found little success. Kim provided minimal assistance to Michigan State in the first three losses of its six-game losing streak following Tucker's firing, completing just 51.4 percent of his passes with just 4.9 yards per pass attempt in losses to Washington, Maryland and Iowa.
Kim hasn’t played since that Iowa game. On the season, he’s completed 56.9 percent of his passes for 1,090 yards and six touchdowns with six interceptions.
Katin Houser supplanted Kim as the starter in the team’s next game at Rutgers. In eight games this season (four as starter), he’s completed 58.7 percent of his passes but has actually averaged .6 fewer yards per attempt, with 624 yards and three touchdowns alongside two interceptions.
Kim has since been injured, first listed as out ahead of the team's matchup with Minnesota on Oct. 28, with Barnett saying his return is still “a few weeks off.”
Offensive offense
Quarterback play hasn’t been the only problem for the Spartans’ attack.
Michigan State ranks 123rd in scoring offense, 113th in total offense, 118th in rushing offense and 117th in yards per carry.
It’s been since Week 2 against FCS Richmond that the Spartans have surpassed 24 points in a game. They’ve only broken the 20-point threshold twice in their past seven games and were shut out by Michigan on Oct. 21.
When Michigan State does try to get the run game going, it is almost always with running back Nate Carter. Carter has 659 yards on 156 carries this season, an average of 4.2 yards per attempt, and four touchdowns. No other Spartan rusher has reached 100 yards on the year.
Middling defense
Michigan State’s defensive numbers are significantly better than those produced by its offense, even if it is still right about average relative to the rest of the country on that side of the football.
The Spartans have allowed 26.6 points per game, which ranks 74th in the nation, but fare better in total defense where they rank 46th. That’s supplemented by the nation’s No. 44 rushing and No. 56 passing defense, respectively.
Linebacker Cal Haladay leads the charge with a team-high 65 tackles, adding five tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
Defensive back Jaden Mangham has been a top source of turnover production, recording four interceptions and a fumble recovery on the year. Rushing the passer has been a by-committee effort for the Spartans, as 15 players have recorded a sack but none have more than four and only one, linebacker Aaron Brule, has more than 2.5.
