MI State might not crack the top four this week, but the Spartans (10-1) have to like where they stand. The Spartans already have wins against OR – maybe the best team in the Pac-12 over the last month of the season – MI and now Ohio State.
Advertisement
“Honestly, we didn’t see those plays for the rest of the game”, Elliott said.
“The last time I was in this stadium was for an all-star game after my senior year in high school”, he said.
Quarterback Cardale Jones also suggested on Twitter that he would be leaving Ohio State at the end of the year. He announced after the game that he will not return to OSU for the 2016 season.
Once again, Ohio State barely used the talents on H-back Braxton Miller, one of the most dynamic players in college football. Throughout the whole process, they told me I had a chance to start, and it was on me if I was going to start or not or play as a true freshman.
“We know how to win”, coach Mark Dantonio said.
I was relieved when we learned Connor Cook wouldn’t be good to go against Ohio State last week (because Ohio State needed to win), but I was also a little disappointed.
Elliott says he knew a month ago that this was going to be his last season in college. It didn’t work out. On the other side of the ball, Ohio State still leads the conference in rushing yards per game with 230.4 yards per contest.
“I call a lot of the plays anyways”, Meyer said.
You get the following result: MI State 17, Ohio State 14.
The Buckeyes’ 23-game winning streak? “We gotta get better”.
But on Saturday, during the Spartans’ game against the third-ranked Buckeyes, all Cook held was a clipboard. The only two Ohio State scoring drives came courtesy of short fields off turnovers.
Ohio State has won three straight games against the Wolverines. The Spartans have now defeated Air Force, Oregon, MI and the Buckeyes (combined record 35-9), with the chance to add Penn State and Iowa before the start of the postseason. It’s one thing for a team with a high-octane offense to gag in a big game or a huge moment, but it’s sort of hard to choke when the idea is to turn the defensive front loose on the backfield.
Down 30-13 in the fourth quarter, TCU got within a point on Bram Kohlhausen’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Emanuel Porter with 51 seconds remaining. “I’m disappointed in the play calling, I’m disappointed in the situations we were put in, and I wish it all played out differently”.
With Connor Cook all but guaranteeing his starting status for the game throughout the week, it came as a shock to many as game time approached that it wasn’t Cook taking a majority of snaps in pre-game warmups, but backup quarterbacks sophomore Damion Terry and junior Tyler O’Connor. The Spartans turned into an option/quarterback run team.
Samaje Perine ran for 188 yards and a touchdown for the Sooners (10-1, 7-1 Big 12), who lost quarterback Baker Mayfield to an apparent head injury.
Advertisement
That being the case, it’s puzzling why Ohio State abandoned the pass. The rain was a factor in the first half, but was not as much in the second half. Ohio State sputtered a few through 10 games but was never really challenged. At least not like this. The Buckeyes are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings in MI and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 meetings overall. Saturday’s loss to MSU could affect the Buckeyes one of two ways as they play MI.
