We share our biggest questions, pick the top players to watch and make some predictions for things we think we’ll see in Ohio State’s Big Ten opener against Michigan State.
Ohio State plays its first conference game and its first road game of the season on Saturday night as the Buckeyes take on Michigan State in East Lansing. While Ohio State is favored to beat Michigan State by more than 20 points for the eighth year in a row, the Spartans will give the Buckeyes their toughest test of the season to date after Ohio State opened the season with a trio of games against Group of 5 teams.
With that in mind, we share our biggest questions entering the Buckeyes’ conference opener, our top players to watch against Michigan State and some predictions for what we think we’ll see happen in East Lansing tonight.Even though Ohio State has rushed for 553 yards and 11 touchdowns in its last two games, Ryan Day wasn’t eager to heap praise on the Buckeyes’ running game when asked about it during his Tuesday press conference.
While he didn’t say so outright, the unspoken part of Day’s refusal to make any proclamations about the run game’s improvement is the reality that Western Michigan and Marshall’s run defenses couldn’t truly test the Buckeyes. Every team Ohio State has faced so far this season ranks 90th or lower nationally in rushing yards allowed per attempt, but Michigan State will provide a big step up in competition as the Spartans rank 14th in the FBS with only 2.61 yards allowed per carry.
Ohio State will have much more reason to believe its run-game improvement is real if it can put up big numbers on the ground again in this game.Over the first three games, my primary gripe with the Buckeyes' defense so far has been the susceptibility to the running game from opposing quarterbacks. Ohio State hasn't faced a more capable scrambler than Aidan Chiles this season, so it will be telling to see how Jim Knowles schemes to take that part of his game away from the Spartans.
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