Once again, the Ohio State football team stood its ground against MI in one of the nation’s most notable – and likely most reinvigorated – rivalries.
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Instead, it turned into a lopsided affair: a 42-13 win for the Buckeyes. Donovan helped Penn State fall to 108th in the country in total offense out of 128 teams, frustrated fans, former players and his own team with predictable, vanilla play calling, and was the main source of blame for the regression of quarterback Christian Hackenberg, tight end Mike Gesicki and others. Two top 10 teams in two weeks. The Spartans shut down Ohio State in every way possible.
“We’re two programs that like to play physical football”, Iowa offensive lineman Austin Blythe said. “He’s one of best players that I’ve ever been around”. “What a response from this group of kids”.
Matchup: No. 4 Iowa (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 5 Michigan State (11-1, 7-1) in Big Ten championship game. MI had 10 running plays for 30 yards on first down.
Neither of the combatants in Saturday’s 7:15 p.m. game at Lucas Oil Stadium were preseason favorites to win their divisions this season and with a spot in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs on the line this week, both have embraced the idea that they still have something to prove.
“Didn’t get touched once”, Cook said. “We’re all going to stay focused, and we know what needs to be done”.
“We fought through it, ” Spartans defensive end Shilique Calhoun said. I think I was sitting at a family dinner, actually family Christmas/Thanksgiving.
“He had played well prior to that game, but I thought he played really well against us”, Ferentz said in a teleconference Sunday. Seven of the previous eight Wolverines coaches won their first meeting against the Buckeyes. On Saturday, he saw his team hit a wall.
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“We had to make a move in getting the game called”. “We didn’t win the game”.
And the Buckeyes’ mental state after the Michigan State loss was, of course, the biggest question of all. He flipped a short pass to Saeed Blacknall that went for 77 yards and set up the Lions’ final touchdown.
Michigan State had everything to lose and played like it while the Lions at times looked lost, failing to recognize a double fake from Cook, who sold it beautifully for a touchdown pass, and struggling to make tackles in the open field.
MI quarterback Jake Rudock, who was injured in the third quarter, completed 19-of-32 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown.
The Wolverines cut the deficit to 7-3 on a Kenny Allen 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
The Hawkeyes will enter Saturday’s game with the better record, which was the case for Ohio State in 2013.
The Badgers rushed for minus-26 yards in a loss to Northwestern last week that ended a five-game winning streak.
“With the size and experience that they have on the offensive line, and us missing two out of our four (defensive line) starters in the game, they were able to take advantage of that”, Franklin said. We trusted the game plan.
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Obviously, there have been years where beating MI meant more, like the chance to play for a national championship.
