MI State comes together as grumbling Ohio State falls apart

MI State gave no hints as to whether he would play, but when he warmed up cautiously t was obvious something was up.

As MI State’s postgame news conference was about to begin, quarterback Connor Cook noticed that the vinyl banner hanging behind the players was all scarlet and gray.

Ohio State has been searching for consistency all year and couldn’t find it against MI State, losing for the first time since their loss to Virginia Tech in 2014. A shot at the Big Ten title? “The one drive that we had where we kind of had a few momentum when we scored after the strip-sack, the plays we ran, we ran a lot of gap schemes and we were gashing them”. This was a tough assignment for the Tar Heels (10-1, 7-0) because the emotional Hokies were desperate to send Frank Beamer off a victor in his last home game after 29 years. Will they at MI?

For the second time in the game, MSU returned the favour to OH with a 75 yard scoring drive to tie it up at 14 a piece. And that was before it was known Cook, widely-considered the best QB in the Big Ten, and possibly a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, could not play.

But Elliott said he went back to practice Thursday and was fine for the game. The played smothering defense.

It was easy to think Ohio State was on its way to a relatively easy victory. But OSU did take advantage of MSU’s one critical mistake. The Spartans held the Buckeyes to five first downs and a total of 132 total yards. One of the top running backs in the nation, Elliott – knowing the shelf-life of an National Football League running back is a short one – was likely headed to the National Football League anyway.

Junior quarterback Cardale Jones also suggested, strongly, on Twitter that this was also his last home game for Ohio State.

Saturday Barrett had 46 yards passing and 44 rushing.

MI State entered the game as one of the worst teams in the Big Ten at forcing three-and-outs, but the Spartans’ defense forced Ohio State into six three-and-out possessions.

And it wasn’t just the victory, but the circumstances.

No matter what happens on the turf in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, Elliott said the scars from the loss to the Spartans will be hard for him to put in the rearview mirror. They had more quarterbacks then they knew what to do with and potential All-Americans everywhere.

But when he didn’t show enough arm strength in warmups, Dantonio turned to Tyler O’Connor and option specialist Damion Terry. The Sooners (10-1) beat TCU 30-29, batting down a 2-point conversion pass in the final minute when the Horned Frogs went for the lead after a touchdown instead of a tying PAT. Gerald Holmes reached the ball over the goal line for a 2-yard touchdown to tie it at 14 for the Spartans with 12:03 left. State’s front seven defensively also controlled the line of scrimmage. There was a chance Elliott might not have been able to play at all against the Spartans.

The well-drawn play of the MI State confused Ohio State that they don’t know what was coming. The Spartans control their own destiny. He said he lobbied Ohio State coach Urban Meyer for more carries on the sideline and did not get them.

For that chance, there should be no complaints in this state.