Spartans aiming for another big upset against Ohio State

Ohio State appears to have ironed out issues on offense since the October 22 loss at Penn State, outscoring Nebraska and Maryland 124-3 in the last two games. The Buckeyes will pose a little more resistance than Rutgers did last week but many can say that Michigan State will be a stiffer challenge that Maryland, despite the fact that Maryland beat Michigan State earlier in the season.

Thanks to Louisville, they’ve got one less team to worry about. But the loss at Iowa Saturday coupled with the apparent loss of QB Wilton Speight to a broken collarbone for the remainder of the season, and a brutal trip remaining to Ohio State spells trouble for the Wolverines.

HISTORY: If the Spartans are looking for some historical comfort, last season’s game may not even be the best analogy. In those four, OSU has went 2-2. Ohio State is 5-5 with the over/under total on the season, hitting the over in two straight. “You don’t really ever want to root for those guys”. “And it doesn’t matter what the record is”.

“The engagement of the players has been a real positive week in and week out”, Harbaugh said. MI was downed by Iowa in its first true road test of the year, as the Wolverines (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) watched their undefeated season come crumbling down. After starting with wins over Furman and Notre Dame, the Spartans lost seven in a row before beating Rutgers 49-0 last week. 2, 3 and 4 ranked teams all losing.

Clemson’s stunning lost to the University of Pittsburgh brings the Tigers back to the pack of one-loss teams. Still, scoreboard matters but I think Nebraska beats Iowa on Thanksgiving Friday.

“We’ve got 28 players from OH on our football team as well as quite a number of coaches with an OH background, so a little bit of extra motivation on this end”, Dantonio said. “Even with all the injuries they’ve had, they’re in the middle of the pack in every offensive category”.

“We control our destiny, so as long as we keep handling business, we’re not anxious about what anybody is doing”, MI tight end Jake Butt said.

“We know that they are probably the best serving team in the Big Ten, if not the league right now”, Bates said. In this unusual season I explained a month ago that the unbeaten teams had bought themselves plenty of currency because so numerous teams chasing them had a pair of losses already. The visiting team has won each of the past four. Although not listed as a starter with the Silver Bullets, his contributions can not be over exaggerated.

Though, that came at the expense of having “11-1 MI with a narrow loss to Ohio State on the road” in the mix.

“Oh, it does for sure”, he said.

What about MI, you ask? Regardless, a somber expression could not be hidden, as his collegiate career comes to a close.

The Buckeyes are No. 2 in the rankings with two weeks to go in the regular season and of course one more ranking after that with the conference championship games.

“Extremely risky”, he said.

“They’re doing everything they can in the rehab end of it, but we won’t know until he can try it and he’s not in a position to try it yet, ” Riley said. “A lot of guys from OH, so it’s a special game in that respect”.

All fascinating questions. As usual, I’ve done my rankings, and they are based exclusively on what a team has done.