CLE Up, A-Town Down: Cavs-Hawks, Behind the Box Score
November 21, 2015Ezekiel Elliott’s draft stock is fine, despite “rant” that wasn’t a “rant”
November 22, 2015Over the past few years, Ohio State (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) and Michigan State (10-1, 6-1 B1G) have traded explosive offenses in high scoring shootouts. Saturday’s game felt more like a tug of war in the mud. Playing mostly in a steady rain, neither team worked especially well offensively and miscues haunted both sides. Even without starting quarterback Connor Cook the Spartans did enough to earn a hard-fought 17-14 victory in front of a record crowd at Ohio Stadium.
First Quarter:
Kickoff, 15:00. Before the game even began, the biggest story was a lack of Connor Cook on the field. Cook was unable to play with a sore shoulder and backups Tyler O’Connor and Damion Terry alternated to lead the Michigan State attack.
3rd and 8, 1:49. Buckeye defensive end Sam Hubbard busts through the offensive line and sacks O’Connor while forcing a fumble. Adolphus Washington dives on the ball to give Ohio State great starting field position at the Spartan 32 yard line.
Second Quarter:
4th and Goal, 12:45. After a previous touchdown run was reversed on replay, Buckeye Head Coach Urban Meyer elects to go for the throat with an Ezekiel Elliott run. He trundles through the line and give OSU a 7-0 advantage.
1st and 10, 7:57. Michigan State immediately responds to the Ohio State score. O’Connor led the offense on a 75-yard drive culminating in a twelve yard touchdown pass to Trevon Pendleton. The extra point is good and the score is tied 7-7.
4th and 12, 4:30. After a ghastly five yard punt, MSU takes over the ball at the OSU 23 yard line. Sparty’s offense goes backwards to set up Michael Geiger for a 43 yard field goal attempt. He pushes it wide left and the game remains tied at seven.
Third Quarter:
4th and 2, 3:38. After an ineffectual offensive series, Ohio State punter Cameron Johnston booted the ball yet again. Michigan State’s Macgarrett Kings Jr. muffs the punt which allows OSU’s Terry McLaurin to recover the rock at the Spartan six yard line.
1st and Goal, 3:33. JT Barrett dekes a quarterback rush before executing a jump pass to a slanting Jalin Marshall. The Buckeyes claim a 14-7 lead.
Fourth Quarter:
4th and 8, 14:54. The Spartans elect to go for it on fourth down driving into Ohio State territory. An overeager Joey Bosa jumps offsides giving Michigan State a more manageable attempt which they easily convert for a first down. Four plays later Gerald Holmes rushes for the equalizing score. The game is tied 14-14.
3rd and 9, 5:00. With time running low and the Buckeyes playing at their own doorstep, the offense decides to get tricky with a Braxton Miller end around. MSU smothers it and forces an Ohio State punt. The Buckeyes would not touch the ball again.
3rd and 8, 0:03. After starting at the OSU 48, the Spartans drive down field to get into field goal range for placekicker Michael Geiger. Urban Meyer burns a timeout to ice him, but Geiger refuses to be intimidated. He calmly knocks home a 41-yard kick to give Michigan State the upset victory. Final Score: Michigan State 17 – Ohio State 14.
Looking through the statistics once could mistakenly think the game took place in 1915. Here are Ohio State’s final offensive numbers: Five first downs, 132 yards of offense, 46 passing yards, and 45 offensive plays. By any metric this game will go down as the worst offensive showing in Urban Meyer’s tenure.
So with the loss in the books, how will the Big Ten East shake out? Our options:
1.) Michigan State defeats visiting Penn State on Saturday to win the Big Ten East.
2.) Michigan State loses, Ohio State defeats Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Buckeyes win the East.
3.) Michigan State loses, Michigan defeats Ohio State, the Wolverines go to Indianapolis.
The Buckeyes would be hard pressed to make the playoffs now, but a Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl trip are worthwhile consolation prizes. Urban Meyer will field numerous questions about the conservative and sometimes upsetting play calling, and the Buckeyes will need to get their heads right before going on the road to play their fiercest rival. #BeatMichigan
6 Comments
one of the hardest games i’ve had to watch in recent memory. Just don’t understand why we never saw a traditional screen pass with Zeke or some of those quick crossing routes. I know the wind was blowing but you’ve got to throw the ball at least a little bit to win.
And those crucial offsides penalties on 3rd and long killed them. If they don’t jump (I think 3 separate times) I really think this game goes to the Buckeyes. Those penalties came on scoring drives that could have made the difference between a touchdown and a punt or FG.
Agree, Boza really screwed up being offside yet again on that 4th down play allowing the Spartans’ to continue a scoring drive. Too dumb yet for the NFL.
Shock is not the word. This loss has been coming all season long. The effort and execution on the field has been uneven, and the playcalling has been conservative and counterintuitive if not outright bad. This was not a top 4 team outside of the end of the VT game and moments against Indiana and Rutgers. Sparty was the better team without question yesterday. The only silver lining I can see is that MAYBE this will result in a focused team and coaching staff, and we will see a legitimate beat down of our most hated rival. Nothing else matters at this point.
Agree. Anyone who has truly watched this team knew that it was a very talented team that was being mismanaged (asked to run on its hands).
This was like watching an accident about to happen about a mile down the road, and the frustrating thing is that Meyer & crew never made the “fix” that he said he would week in and week out (after narrowly avoiding crashes).
Hate to put it largely on play calling, but man, it’s been brutal. I think the only real long term fix is to realize Beck was a bad hire and he and Wariner are ill-suited for play calling duties.
I’m not a fan of either of these teams, but ended up going to the game yesterday. Wow. I thought OSU was over-rated all season, but this was the closest I’ve probably seen to a thrown game, on any level of competition. The offensive play calling was so bad. Something had to be up.
Buckeyes better sack up and bring it this week against Michigan (that’s right I said it screw this team up north crap)! A lot of immature social media suspended kids who Meyer coddled and protected probably to the detriment of the rest of his team.