Time for the Buckeyes to Prove They’re Contenders

So the Ohio State Buckeyes have proven that they can lay the smack down on the dregs of the Big Ten. Rutgers and Maryland both thought they had something going this year – until Ohio State showed them how the blue bloods of the Big Ten play. Illinois might have believed they were turning a corner after knocking off 6-1 Minnesota, but J.T. Barrett ran up 55 points in a thorough beat down last weekend.

But what this year’s Buckeyes hasn’t proven is that they can bring their top performance against top opponents. Navy doesn’t fit into that category, but they do run a tricky system that caused Ohio State to struggle for much of the opener. Virginia Tech was once a top program, but they haven’t shown it in five years or so, yet the Buckeyes still laid an egg in the first regular season loss of Urban Meyer’s tenure. Penn State is down this season, but the Nittany Lions mounted a gritty second half comeback and gave the Bucks all they could handle in a double overtime “thriller.”¹

None of the aforementioned teams that challenged Ohio State were ranked, let alone ranked No. 8 in the nation with a good shot to make the inaugural College Football Playoff. Michigan State fits all those criteria, and they await the Buckeyes this Saturday night in East Lansing. Just like Penn State, this game will pit the Ohio State offense against a stingy defense and a rabid crowd under the lights. Statistically, Penn State’s defense is better than the Spartan unit,² but Mark Dantonio’s team has one thing that the Buckeyes didn’t see in Happy Valley – a real live offense.

But just saying that this Spartan offense is better than the anemic Penn State attack isn’t high enough praise for what Connor Cook and company have done this season. The Spartans have long been known for a suffocating defense and serviceable but unspectacular offense, but that narrative no longer applies. This season, Cook’s second as the starter, the Walsh Jesuit product has the Spartans clicking to the tune of 45.5 points per game – good for fifth in the nation. The junior quarterback, who has already made statements about wanting to return for his senior season, has quietly piled up 17 touchdowns against just five interceptions to go with a 60.6 completion percentage and 9.4 yards per attempt. His favorite target is 6-foot-3-inch senior Tony Lippett (889 yards and nine touchdowns). Buckeye fans last saw Lippett getting behind last season’s porous secondary for a touchdown in the Big Ten Championship Game. Also back is tailback Jeremy Langford whom OSU fans will remember for his 128 yard performance in Indianapolis that included the late touchdown that put the final nail in the Buckeyes’ coffin. All he’s done this year is average more than 100 yards a game and score 10 touchdowns.

Long story short, this isn’t a classic Michigan State team, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t very, very good. They can score, and they undoubtedly will if Joey Bosa and company can’t make Cook uncomfortable in the pocket or slow down Langford.

Offensively, the Buckeyes must be better than they were two weeks ago in State College. In spite of what the statistics say, most people, myself included, would take this Spartans defense over Penn State’s every day of the week and twice on Saturday. If Tom Herman’s playcalling is as unimaginative as it was in Happy Valley, it will be a long evening for Barrett and the other Buckeyes skill players.

For the second straight season, the outcome of a game against Michigan State will determine the success or failure of Ohio State’s season. Last season, Urban Meyer’s squad failed the test in Indianapolis, costing themselves a likely BCS Championship Game berth and causing the Buckeyes coach to eat the single most depressing piece of pizza of all time. You can bet that both Meyer and his charges remember that feeling from last December. They surely understand the magnitude of this game as well as the difficulty of the challenge that awaits them. The only question that remains is whether this season’s Buckeyes are truly good enough to pass such a test. Saturday night will answer many questions one way or the other.

1. I use this term very loosely. [↩]
2. Penn State: Second nationally in total defense (273.4 yards per game) and fifth in scoring (17.8 points per game). Michigan State: Fifth in total defense (284.4 yards allowed per game) and 22^nd in scoring (20.3 points per contest). [↩]