OSU - MSU preview

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COVER PHOTO: OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson eludes a Michigan State defender during their game against the Spartans in Columbus on Nov. 20, 2021. Henderson ran nine times for 63 yards in OSU's 56-7 win. Picture by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.

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When No. 1 Ohio State (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) welcomes Michigan State (3-6, 1-5) into Ohio Stadium on Saturday night, it will be the eighth time that the Buckeyes will face the Spartans as the top-ranked team in the nation.

The Scarlet and Gray lead the Green and White all-time, 36-15, and are 5-2 when ranked No. 1 with six of those contests coming against unranked Spartan teams. One of those losses came in 1974 when they dropped a heartbreaker in East Lansing, Mich., 16-13. The second L was just over 25 years ago when on Nov. 7, 1998, a Nick Saban-coached Sparty club came back from a 24-9 second half deficit to pull out a 28-24 win in Columbus.

It was OSU’s only loss of the year as they went 11-1 and finished No. 2 in the country. The Spartans went 6-6 and managed not to get invited to a postseason bowl game.

This time around, MSU seems to be facing more of an uphill battle as they try to pull off another huge upset as several key players are questionable for Saturday’s matchup.

Absent from last weekend’s game against 5-3 Nebraska were 12 players including two of the team’s top four receivers, Tre Mosley and Maliq Carr. They’ve also been without linebacker Darius Snow during various parts of the season, as he’s been dealing with a leg injury - the same one that ended his season last year and has been continuing to hamper him throughout this year.

However, that didn’t stop them from denying a 5-3 Nebraska team last weekend from becoming bowl eligible as they knocked off the Cornhuskers in Spartan Stadium, 20-17.

The Buckeyes, though, haven’t been impervious to the injury bug, either.

Quarterback Kyle McCord has been dealing with an ankle issue since their 24-10 win over Wisconsin two weeks ago when he got it rolled on but was able to battle through it for the rest of the game as well for the entirety of their 35-16 win over Rutgers.

McCord said before their game against the Scarlet Knights that it’s still lingering but he feels fine enough.

Receiver Emeka Egbuka made his return last weekend in a road game against Rutgers after missing part of the Purdue game and all of the last two against Penn State and Wisconsin after injuring his ankle against the Boilermakers on Oct. 14.

Running back TreVeyon Henderson sat out for over a month after their 17-14 victory at Notre Dame after taking what he called a "cheap shot" to his upper body. He returned two weeks against Wisconsin and has put up two straight games with over 100 rushing yards and 200 total yards of offense.

Cornerback Denzel Burke was unavailable last weekend as was starting bandit safety Lathan Ransom after both suffered undisclosed injuries, with Burke’s coming against Purdue and Ransom’s happening in their 24-10 road win against Wisconsin.

Starting adjuster safety Josh Proctor was injured early in the second half last weekend after delivering a hit to Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai on a pass over the middle that resulted in a 93-yard interception return for a touchdown by slot cornerback Jordan Hancock.

It is unknown as of this writing whether or not those three will be available against the Spartans.

If that is the case, and more than likely will be in an effort for head coach Ryan Day to get them as healthy as possible come their showdown against No. 3 Michigan in two weeks, expect true freshman cornerback Jermaine Matthews, Jr. to get the start in place of Burke with fellow true freshman safety Malik Hartford joining him in the secondary in place of Proctor. Sophomore Sonny Styles could move from his slot cover safety position back to the bandit with either sophomore Kye Stokes or fourth-year Cam Martinez filling in at the slot.

Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg was also seen leaving the field late in last weekend’s game but is said to be ready to go against the Spartans by both Day and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

Michigan State comes in as the worst scoring offense in the Big Ten at 18.2 points per game and their 319 yards per game ranks ninth.

The Buckeyes boast the nation’s second-best scoring defense, only allowing 10 points per game, and their 271 total yards allowed per game ranks fifth in the nation.

The one bright spot for the Spartans’ offense is their passing game, which ranks sixth in the conference at 216 ypg but will face the daunting task of trying to see some success against an OSU D that is the fourth-best team in the country at only 156 ypg allowed.

One aspect to look out for, however, is getting to the quarterback.

The Spartans have allowed 16 sacks on the year (ranking sixth in the Big Ten and one less than the Buckeyes) and have racked up 25 sacks, which is fifth-best in the conference. OSU is next-to-last in the B1G with 17.

Sparty’s defense will be tasked with stopping an OSU offense that currently ranks third in the conference in scoring (32 ppg), second in total (417 ypg) and tops in passing offense (283 ypg). The Spartans rank 11th (26 ppg), 11th (351 total ypg) and 10th (222 passing ypg).

The Buckeyes rank seventh offensively on the ground in the B1G (134 ypg) while the Spartans are ninth at 129 ypg. 

Ohio State is a 31-point favorite.

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and is NBC’s Saturday Night Game of the Week.