Ohio State’s concern this year is fixing its problems, particularly on offense while going against a stout MI defense, and slowing down a Wolverines offense that’s on a roll the past few weeks. “To come out and do that against them, that shows you this is one of the best groups of kids I’ve been around”.
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Michigan State will face No. 4 Iowa (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) next Saturday night for the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the victor of that game all but guaranteed a spot in the CFP. The victor will nearly assuredly be selected for the College Football Playoff.
Those were the words Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio offered in September.
But it was coming, and it began last week at Ohio State when the Spartans ran for 203 yards and continued in Saturday’s 55-16 victory over Penn State when quarterback Connor Cook wasn’t sacked once.
Cook said he worked his way back little by little during the week of practice leading up to the game, throwing some on Tuesday and throwing a little bit more on Wednesday.
“We got beat and didn’t play well enough in the game to win it”, Harbaugh said, stoic and irritable during his postgame press conference. “That was a reality check”. You can’t say that Elliott was being selfish because he wanted to help his team win a game they lost.
The Spartans’ dreams of winning a national championship are becoming even more realistic, assuming they can knock off Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. Barrett completed just 9-of-16 passes for 46 yards and ran 15 times for 44 yards.
For some Ohio State fans, that’s hard to take.
The Tide forced a punt after Griffith’s field goal, then consumed more than five minutes in a 10-play, 51-yard drive that was mostly all Henry.
The success on the ground has come because of much improved blocking on the edge, notable by offensive lineman Chase Farris and tight end Nick Vannett, as well as far better reads from quarterback J.T. Barrett. “We have to find a way to get it done”.
A week after Ezekiel Elliott unleashed criticism of the Ohio State coaching staff for giving him just 12 carries in a loss to Michigan State, the junior’s concerns were apparently heard, noted and acted upon.
Jim Harbaugh has revived Michigan’s football program.
In the third quarter, Price broke into the open for a 6-yard touchdown reception set up by Cook’s nifty double-fake off reverse action.
Senior linebacker Steve Barroso intercepted a Scott pass at the Albright 19-yard line to halt a Purple Raider scoring opportunity. The second, an intended screen pass to Saquon Barkley that was tipped by defensive end Shilique Calhoun, was caught by nose tackle Malik McDowell and returned 13 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
“I’m just focusing right now on getting better and what we need to do, working through everything this whole season and being able to put it together for one more game”.
Smith held on to that flier and once the Buckeyes were back in the locker room after a 42-13 win over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Smith took to Twitter once again to ask prospects now who they would trust their future with. The offensive line completely wore down the undermanned Penn State defense the rest of the way and the Spartans cruised to a blowout victory.
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In fact, Cook wasn’t even touched.
