After their deflating loss against an unranked Nebraska team before their match up with a Top Five Ohio State squad, things looked dire for Michigan State. They need to beat Southern California in the Pac-12 title game next Saturday, in Santa Clara, Calif., and get help elsewhere. The selection committee protocol emphasizes conference championships and Ohio State can’t win one.
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After the game, Dantonio reiterated what he’s said since the conception of the playoffs, stating that any team that wins the Big Ten deserves a chance to play in one of the four slots for the playoffs. The Hoosiers laid out step-by-step instructions on how to make Michigan’s once-impenetrable defense look like a group of crowd control officers at a Walmart on Black Friday.
The Wolverines had all of their dreams alive heading into Saturday’s (Nov. 28) game with No. 8 Ohio State, only to have them crushed in a 42-13 defeat.
Michigan State’s potholes could have damaged any team on this Big Ten title game journey.
“The backlash was hard on me”, Elliott said.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 214 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback J.T. Barrett added 139 yards on the ground, 113 yards passing and four total touchdowns.
At 11-1, 7-1 overall, OSU’s East Division title hopes rests on the Michigan State-Penn State outcome.
“You just figure if you’re third and you go to a championship game away from home to the No. 9 team in the country and win by 30-some points, you would only move up, but you sure wouldn’t move back”, Sooners coach Bob Stoops said.
A week after Elliott criticized the coaching staff for its play-calling in a loss to Michigan State, Elliott got a season-high in carries. “He’s one of best players I’ve ever been around”. “I don’t know if he should win”. It’s one thing to be missing players, it’s another to simply struggle to slow a team down.
Elliott had a 5-yard run that put Ohio State ahead 14-3 in the second quarter and a 10-yard run put the Buckeyes ahead 35-13 early in the fourth.
Reflection by Wormley acknowledged that, “We couldn’t make tackles, especially on No. 15… I feel for him, but I know he’s a tough guy”. His third-and-23 run for 22 yards in the second quarter was the latest in an already-long highlight reel.
He ran more than he passed. Never mind Michigan State’s Rose Bowl win over Stanford following the 2013 season or Cotton Bowl win over Baylor after the ’14 campaign.
A week ago, Elliott merely dominated the headlines with his harsh (and accurate) assessment of a flawed game plan against Michigan State that resulted in five first downs and eight punts.
Sophomore Wilton Speight replaced Rudock, who will hopefully be ready to go in the bowl game – the location of which will be announced soon.
Up until the hit on the sack that ended his game, Rudock had another strong game, exceeding 250 yards for the fourth consecutive game. Peppers had three carries for 13 yards; De’Veon Smith had seven carries for 17 yards.
“I’m very proud of the team the way they’ve worked and the way they’ve progressed”, Harbaugh said.
“We’re different in a lot of ways; they play a different front defensively than we do”, Ferentz said.
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This just wasn’t the year for MI to gain an edge in The Game. But the defensive line kept the Lions in games, until Saturday.
