“All the goals are right in front of us”, MI State Coach Mark Dantonio said.
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MI State (9-1 SU, 3-7 ATS): “The bottom line was we didn’t stop them”, MSU’s Dantonio lamented following last season’s 49-37 loss to the Buckeyes. College Football Playoff implications also make Saturday’s game a must-win for both sides.
Urban Meyer has a go-to quote after every victory. Now back in the starting lineup, there is no question Barrett is an elite triggerman whose game is tailored perfectly for the offense Meyer has made famously successful. “I root for them to lose all the time”.
Other than that, this game is a bit personal with 29 players on the MSU roster from the state of Ohio.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge”, he said.
Meyer admits Saturday will be a tough day for two reasons.
There’s way too much riding on the game this weekend for us to fall back on what I’m sure a few of you are calling “Michigan values” or “Michigan morals” or whatever.
“An incredible group of people”. MI State stumbled. OSU has not.
The last three times an unbeaten Ohio State team played a late-season game (November or later) against MI State the Spartans have won (1974, 1998 and 2013). “Lot of respect for the way they play, and their personnel because they’re outstanding”. “So you have to go in order, I think to get to where we want to go”.
“One of the best defensive lines in college football”, he added. Theirs and ours are very comparable and just very, very good players. That’s how you value a quarterback. Keep an eye on the Tigers this week; it might be “statement game’ time”.
Cook, who was only 6-of-20 passing against Maryland and is expected to play, is 175 of 311 overall for 2,482 yards, with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions, spreading the ball to wideouts Aaron Burbridge, MacGarrett Kings, Jr. and R.J. Shelton, and tight ends Josiah Price and Jamal Lyles. He’s tied with Stanford’s Kevin Hogan for the most wins among active quarterbacks. The Ducks, led by a healthy Vernon Adams, are averaging 42.3 points and 538.5 total yards during their four-game win streak.
True freshman Jarrett Stidham finally struggled in last week’s loss to Oklahoma and while Baylor is no longer in the playoff conversation, they now have to regroup and find a way to beat undefeated Oklahoma State on the road in order to stay alive in the Big 12 title race. Running back Ezekiel Elliott joined ESPN’s Mike & Mike Radio on Friday morning, and pointed out that the Buckeyes “haven’t played up to their potential”.
The story is somewhat different this year from last, when the Buckeyes were the underdogs against the Spartans.
Quarterback J.T. Barrett will be under center Saturday but his path there has been far from traditional. This season he has 1,425 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns. He has also run for 403 yards and an additional eight touchdowns. He’d just misfired on a third-down pass, but the game was decided at that point. It is second in the conference in points per contest at 13.8 and allows the fewest first downs per conference game at 15.5. The Buckeyes have a total of 53 yards on the ground in their last two outings. “They just get better and better”.
The first 10 games of the season for the Buckeyes (10-0, 6-0) seemed like preliminaries.
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At linebacker, sophomore Raekwon McMillan (*swoon*) leads the team with 97 tackles. The lineup is highlighted by a package of at least 22 national broadcasts to be carried on BTN, with another six on ESPNU and ESPNEWS, along with an additional 33 games to be carried on FOX Sports Regional Networks, American Sports Network and CN900.
