Why MSU will beat Penn State

There’s the tactical Meyer vs. the intense Harbaugh. O’Connor completed only seven passes against Ohio State, but he also picked up some key yards on the ground. Everybody started shoveling. That story still resonates with Harbaugh. The Wolverines have struggled in each of the last three years, though, dropping each to a Buckeye team that was ranked inside the Top 10.

Did you know? There’s the Little Brown Jug for the Minnesota game, the Paul Bunyan Trophy for the Michigan State game, but no trophy for the third rivalry game, Ohio State. “I remember the intensity and the whole state shut down”. “You make them personal, but they’re not”. I remember Archie Griffin, Cornelius Greene and Pete Johnson.

Tressel downplayed the coaching angle this week, saying: “I’m not anxious about who’s left or who’s here, I’m just happy when our guys play above their potential”.

Since then, runs between Ohio State and MI have made the rivalry one-sided. This is the first time that a United States baseball team has ever beaten a Cuban National team.

Coming off a win the week before, the Buckeyes are 29-21-2. It’s in the details. He will be taking aim at PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg. “We still could get a chance to play in the Big Ten Championship Game”.

“He knows what he’s doing when it comes to this game”, MI linebacker Joe Bolden said. The shorthand is ridiculous. Although he hasn’t made it official like fellow juniors Ezekiel Elliott and Cardale Jones – who showed extremely poor timing in announcing their intentions after Saturday’s loss – it’s been common knowledge all season that Bosa is leaving. He’s was born in 1969. “We’ve got a chance to win eight games in the regular season”. Which do you think you’ll like more: close games and a balanced rivalry, or Ohio State dominating (like it has for the past 10 years)?

It’s been hard to find a bold prediction of a solid Ohio State win even though OSU has won 10 of the last 11 games against MI.

“I’ve been in rivalries”, he told ESPN.com in August, listing several from his coaching stays at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida.

More than anything, that’s why players insist the season is not lost. MI was 8-2 and ranked No. 11. Michigan State hosts Penn State at 3:30. It may be a classic, but not one the Wolverines want to remember. I definitely have a lot more pre-game nerves building up, but I think that the competitive nature is a good thing. A victory would give this senior class 42, tying it with MSU’s 2013 and 2014 senior classes for the program record.

Senior forward Brandon Taylor said the breakdowns can be fixed with hustle and a better grasp of defensive positioning.

It is certainly reasonable to expect Elliott to receive more than the 12 carries he did against the Spartans, but what he does with his workload will be an intriguing storyline to watch on Saturday. Which name will be attached to this game? But it’s not often that the Buckeyes are trying to bounce back against MI. Harbaugh on Tuesday reminisced about watching the 10-10 tie in 1973 from the Big House’s south end zone. But if Ohio State hadn’t backed it up on the field in November, it would have only multiplied the derision emanating from MI fans.

Charles Woodson returned a punt 78 yards for a TD, sprinting up the same side of the field and into the same end zone as Howard did to help No. 1 MI beat No. 4 Ohio State 20-14 for a spot in the national championship game. We’ll take the Wolverines at home in Scott Spreitzer’s college football best bet. The Gophers would not only take back the axe, they also would become bowl eligible.