Ohio State vs Michigan State Football 2022

Ohio State looks to maintain their position in the rankings as they head to East Lansing this weekend. Ohio State vs Michigan State football games feature a lopsided record for the series. With 50 games already played, the Buckeyes lead the series with a 35-15 record.

Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan will host the 51st contest with the Spartans as heavy underdogs (+26.5). Michigan State began the season 2-0 with wins over Western Michigan and Akron. Since then, the collapse has epic with losses to Washington, Minnesota, and Maryland. In the last two games, the offense only managed to score a combined 20 points. Head Coach Mel Tucker faces an unenviable task of resetting the season against one of the best teams in the nation.

The Ohio State Buckeyes face the opposite situation. After a sluggish start to the season in their first game against Notre Dame, the offense has looked unstoppable. The Irish held them to only 21 points, but the Buckeyes scored 223 points in the next three games. Granted, two of the games were against poor opponents (Arkansas State and Toledo); however, they scored 52 against Wisconsin and 49 versus a much improved Rutgers team.

Players to watch

CJ Stroud is the obvious choice for this game. The Ohio State quarterback leads ESPN's Heisman Watch. Stroud is getting better with each passing week. Taking on a Michigan State defense that is allowing 275 passing yards a game will only open up the playbook for his two great receivers, Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr.

Running back Miyan Williams for Ohio State is also slated to have a big game. Williams ran for 189 yards against a Rutgers defense which only allowed 226 yards in the previous four games combined. The Spartans will have to pick their poison this week. Whichever offensive superstar they try to stop, the other is poised for a huge day.

On the other side of the field, pay attention to Jacoby Windmon. The transfer from UNLV started the season with a massive performance against Western Michigan as he collected four sacks in the game for the Spartans. Windmon added one and half more sacks against Akron, but has seemingly gone missing in action for the last three loss. Michigan State will need a big performance if they hope to stymie the Buckeyes offense.

How to watch the game

If you are in the East Lansing area, there a still a ton of tickets available for the game. Ticketmaster and all of the secondary event ticket sellers have availability. You can take in the game and enjoy some nice fall weather with forecasts calling for a high of 57 and mostly sunny skies.

For everyone else, the game will be on at 4pm, October 8 on ABC.

Who wins the game

It's pretty safe to Ohio State is going to win this game. Coming into the season, this was a game to look forward to, but Michigan State's collapse has killed any excitement out of this game. Ryan Day, head coach of Ohio State, has not lost a game against the Spartans since joining the coaching staff in 2017. Day is 3-0 as the head coach. Clearly, the Buckeyes will win their seventh straight game in this series.