Ohio State to Face Michigan State Saturday in Ohio Stadium
The Big Ten conference is beginning for the 3-1 Buckeyes this coming weekend with a visit from 3-1 Michigan State. The Spartans hope to upset unranked OSU at home while Ohio State waits for 3 starters to return from NCAA suspensions (Boom Herron, DeVier Posey and Mike Adams). MSU has the best rated defensive in the country while Ohio State has struggled on offensive against Toledo and their one loss at Miami (FL), so it should be fun to watch.
By Steve Patterson
For Ohio State, this is the beginning of four games against ranked opponents. Michigan State is ranked 25th by the USA Today Coaches Poll. Then they have two road games, one against AP No 8 Nebraska and one against AP No 24 Illinois. After a bye week, they play at home against AP No 7 Wisconsin. If they can survive the next four games, they will get a nice break against Indiana and Purdue before facing Penn State and Michigan to finish off the conference. The Michigan game will be in the Big House against a much-improved squad under new head coach Brady Hoke.
The Buckeyes rebounded last week after their loss to Miami (FL) by playing aggressively at home and jumping up early on Colorado. Travis Howard told the media after the game that they feel they were able to solve a few issues in the secondary but still need to improve for this weekends game against Michigan State. Much was made of the missed tackles against Miami (26 total). The team practiced their technique all week to help improve for their win against the Buffalos.
But fans will not be watching the defense as closely as they will watch the offense, currently ranked 110th for passing nationally. Braxton Miller hopes to continue to perform well as he did against Colorado, completing two touchdown passes to Devin Smith and rushing for 83 yards. Jordan Hall has also been a great addition to the offense after serving a 2 game suspension at the beginning of the season. He rushed for 87 yards against the Hurricanes and 80 yards against Colorado, not to mention a 90 yard kick-off return.