This team is looking like a national title threat, believe it or not. Cook insisted during the week leading into the Ohio State game that he would play, but Dantonio made the decision to start O’Connor on Friday night.
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Yes. There’s a chance. Amid all the quirky scenarios, one thing came into sharper focus Tuesday night when the playoff committee revealed its latest rankings. Ohio State is 11th nationally in rushing yards at 244.8 yards per contest.
The Spartans defense is still formidable, but they’re adjusting as long-time defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi left to take the head coaching position at Pittsburgh. His players feed off it, and several expounded on it after beating heavily favored Ohio State.
The 7-4 Nittany Lions are now Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh’s friends, because the Big Ten champ, whatever team it is, has a very good shot at the playoff, even if it’s MI.
Hill took his first official visit to Wisconsin this past Saturday, after receiving an offer from the Badgers less than a month earlier, a week following his decommittment from Ohio State.
After MI State won its biggest game of the season without its starting quarterback last weekend, it’s unsure if Connor Cook will play this weekend when the Spartans try to clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.
“This is a chance to win a championship”, he said.
Those 62 wins compare favorably with OR (67 wins), Ohio State (66), Florida State (66), LSU 59, Clemson (58) and Notre Dame (54).
If the Buckeyes finally wake up and realize they’ve got all this future National Football League talent, they should put a serious hurt on the state of MI the next two weeks. That’s less complicated than 2007. While Ohio State was an obvious choice as the preseason No. 1 team, scenarios in which the Big Ten East title was on the line for the Spartans in Week 13 against Penn State seemed plausible. 44 sacks, leads the Big Ten Conference, physical, very physical front, physical linebackers, thumpers. And playing – and defeating – those teams are becoming more and more important.
Despite being frustrated with the loss to the Spartans, Elliott stood up in the locker room and expressed the importance of refocusing ahead of next week’s game against the Buckeyes’ archrival, the University of MI Wolverines. Two-loss Bears are out. MI State has been injury-plagued all season.
Your contenders for No. 4 are…
Asked if the Spartans are worthy of the top four, he replied: “I’m not sure, but I think you can look at the magnitude of the game and our opponent and see that we came out to compete”.
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“We know what’s coming down the road next week and we have to be a little bit more balanced”, he said.
