Ohio State Buckeyes vs. MI State Spartans

No. 2 Alabama has lost a game.

One touchdown or two, anyone who’s seen the last couple years’ meetings between the two teams know nothing will come easy.

To beat the defending national champions, interim head coach Bill Cubit said IL had to seize on every opportunity. Besides, the double OT win over IN keeps U-M IN the race to get to the Big Ten title game. “That should be the first order of business”.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes got their quarterback, J.T. Barrett, back from a one-game suspension and he’ll look to get in a rhythm early and get this offense rolling through the air and on the ground. “A positive run play is 4 yards, so when he’s popping out 6, 8, 9 yards on first and second down, that’s what you love in a running back”.

The biggest concern with Elliott’s role each week being so slow to develop is that the Buckeyes seem to let these box-crowding defenses dictate their course of action instead of exerting their will. It’s not like any of these first 10 opponents are nationally ranked.

But then, as it usually does, the braintrust flipped the script and gave us a steady diet of Elliott in the second half.

“Boy, Zeke is something else, ain’t he?” said Barrett, who was suspended for last week’s game after being cited for driving while impaired.

The fifth-year senior injured his right throwing shoulder in the first half of Saturday’s 24-7 victory over Maryland and did not play in the second half. The Wildcats converted four third downs, including the TD, on the possession and quarterback Clayton Thorson broke off back-to-back 16-yard runs to put the ball on the 5.

Ohio State’s rushing attack and defense look plenty strong, but when Decker was asked whether the Buckeyes would have been good enough Saturday to beat MI State, he replied: “I wouldn’t say so”.

“After we saw what their game plan was, we were able to shut them down”, defensive end Sam Holland said. Hope that was just a case of conservative play-calling and not a failure of the receiving corps to get open, which would be a bigger problem.

Oddsmakers in Vegas have pegged Ohio State as a whole 13-point opening favorites against former Buckeye defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio and the MI State Spartans.

But IL had a field goal try hit the upright, turned the ball over twice on special teams, botched a fourth-and-1 at the Ohio State 12 and still hung around. He never got to try a 36-yarder in the third quarter as a low snap and a fumbled hold aborted the attempt.

LeShun Daniels rushed for a career-high 195 yards and three touchdowns and the Hawkeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) improved to 10-0 to start a season for the first time in school history.

And with 6:57 left in the third quarter, he ended the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone. Defensively, Ohio State is allowing 13.8 points and 298.4 yards per game.

Barrett had mixed results in his return.

The Buckeyes went on a three-play, 49-yard drive finished off by a 24-yard touchdown pass from J.T. Barrett to Michael Thomas.

On second down, Barrett dropped back to pass, but the pocket quickly crumbled.

The interception, however, is a flawless example of why the cracks in the pass protection need to be sealed before the MI State Spartans arrive in Columbus on Saturday.