Grambling State at Ohio State

“We went from one of the worst pass defenses in America two years ago – I know we’re No. 1 in the Big Ten, but we have to be up there in the national rankings”.

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News is right, to a few degree: Michigan-Ohio State was the premier matchup in the Big Ten for decades.

Barrett only threw for a 150 yards and one touchdown, with an interception.

Cook, 32-4 as a starter and the Big Ten’s No. 2-rated quarterback behind Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld, said his shoulder “is good. There’s no issue with that”. Saturday was a great day for the Spartans in terms of outside help, with OR giving Stanford its second loss and continuing to enhance MSU’s win over OR; Arizona upsetting Utah and putting the Pac-12’s playoff hopes in peril; Baylor losing to Oklahoma; and U-M prevailing at in, helping preserve the value of that MSU road win. All of that added up to a 175-113 victory for Ohio State, capping a ideal 3-0 week for the Buckeyes.The bright spot was a partially blocked punt by Curtis Samuel which set up Ohio State in good field position.

Something about the interim coach has kept these players strongly behind him and openly in support of him as head coach.

“That was one of those moments where I just challenged the offensive line”, Meyer said. “Now if Joey Bosa slams him down, we night find out how healthy he really is”.

The Buckeyes would clinch a share of the Big Ten East Division title with a victory and could win the title outright by beating MI (8-2, 5-1) a week later. With games against MI State and MI to end the regular season, the competition now gets stiff.

The MI State Spartans look to get to 10 wins for the third straight season. They have won 23 straight overall, the longest streak in the country. They’re coming off their first win of the season last week against Murray State. The Buckeyes should by no means lose this game, but it’s definitely worth watching, considering how other Power 5 conference teams have fared against lesser opponents early this college basketball season. The following week, Ohio State is at No. 15 MI. This year the desired proof is that it belongs where it is now, among the four teams who would qualify for the playoff. The Spartans have only one blowout in Big Ten play and have endured a rash of injuries.

“My buddy sent me a Snapchat of that”, Bosa said with a grin. “This is the biggest game we’ve played this far yet this season”.

“They’re a very good team”. Provides more motivation to us. First up for the Buckeyes: a home date with MI State. Archie Griffin won his second in 1975. It was the fifteenth consecutive game over 100 yards for the junior tailback.

Meyer’s crew gashed IL for 283 rushing yards – more than twice what the Illini normally surrender. Whether it was the five turnovers, the 2-of-14 on third down or that neither Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett played well at quarterback, the Bucks relied on their defense for a touchdown and a late stop to preserve a 20-13 victory.

Still, the chicken fighting and trash talking between the Buckeyes receivers and Spartans defensive backs promises to be entertaining and worth watching. He will play. They have had several snaps of a back-up quarterback (O’Connor) in there.

ABOUT GRAMBLING STATE (1-1): Ervin Mitchell came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points and fellow reserve Velario Altheimer grabbed 14 rebounds in the win over Mid-Atlantic Christian.