MI State upset reveals Ohio State problems were there all along

Macgarrett Kings was unable to field a line drive punt and Ohio State pounced on the loose ball at the MI State six-yard line.

There’s no question the Buckeyes are only a shell of the team that steamrolled Wisconsin, Alabama and OR in its final three games of 2014 en route to a national championship.

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 had a downright anemic day on offense, as it got outgained 294-132, and questionable play calling got the ball in the belly of Heisman candidate Ezekiel Elliott just 12 times Saturday for 33 yards.

Charlotte is awful. The 49ers are in their first year at the FBS level, haven’t won since September, and were ranked No. 193, worst of all FBS teams, in Jeff Sagarin’s ratings of Division I schools entering Saturday. Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan are all tied atop the Big Ten East at 6-1, but Michigan State has wins over both the Wolverines and Buckeyes, meaning it’s one victory away from playing for the Big Ten title. The MI State game was the Buckeyes’ first real test this season, and it came against a backup quarterback after Cook was unable to play.

No one beyond the walls of MI State’s locker room saw this coming. It hurts a lot just because of how we lost. The Buckeyes recovered at the MI State 32 and it led to Elliott’s 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. He led MI State down the field on a late game-winning drive that was ultimately capped off by a 41-yard Michael Geiger field goal as time expired.

What this was for Ohio State was just a terrible matchup. And the Buckeyes have shown that difference, winning 10 of the past 11 matchups. He ran and passed for a touchdown in the same game for the sixth time this season, the second-most in FBS. It also got MI State’s best shot, and like so often this season it could not unleash its passing game as well as it did previous year under former offensive coordinator (and current Houston coach) Tom Herman.

Elliott’s comments came after he ran for only 33 yards against the Spartans, snapping his streak of 15 straight games with 100 yards or more.

“When they became one-dimensional, the game became a lot easier”, MI State defensive end Shilique Calhoun said. He got a big first down, and it ended up with Geiger – who earlier missed a 43-yard try – lining up for the game-winner with three seconds left form 41 yards. “We couldn’t control it”.

Dantonio said he didn’t watch any pregame television coverage of the game on Saturday, but simply assumed that his team was painted as the underdog. “The finger will be pointed right here”, Meyer said.

Elliott also confirmed what we pretty much expected: he’s going pro. I’m disappointed in the situations we were put in, and I wish it all played out differently.

“I think if we win the next game”, Dantonio said, “we’re going to the Big Ten championship game. That’s a team we should beat”. Ohio State lost to a good team (without its starting quarterback), and it hadn’t really beaten a great team yet, therefore Ohio State was bad all along. In 2014, at Penn State, they put up 3.86 yards per play in another overtime game, and threw for just 74 yards, their previous low under Meyer. Those plays weren’t called anymore. “I just wanted to win this game and kind of keep our playoff hopes alive, and I don’t know how it can all work out”.

“I think I deserve more than (12) carries; I think I really do”, Elliott said. “Honestly, I can’t speak for play-calling”. I don’t know what was going on or what they were seeing. MI State reaped the benefit, which seemed unlikely at the start.

MSU divided the duties between junior Tyler O’Connor, who started, and Terry, a sophomore known for his ability to run. According to an exhaustive computer simulation run by fivethirtyeight.com, the Spartans now have a 95 percent chance of making the field if they win out.

However, his record-breaking performance is overshadowed by his third punt of the game in the second quarter.