by After defeating Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall in non-conference play, the Ohio State football team will now look towards their first Big Ten opponent of the season: Michigan State. The Spartans are 3-1 on the season and the game will be the Buckeyes’ first road test of the year.
Michigan State beat Florida Atlantic in Week 1 and in Week 2, the Spartans were able to get a statement win on the road at Maryland, a program that has been above .500 in each of the last three seasons. They then crushed Prairie View in Week 3 before falling to a tough Boston College team on the road. While a program the caliber of Michigan State should probably never lose to the Boston College’s of the world, the Eagles have had a resurgent year under first-year Head Coach Bill O’Brien. Long story short, the Spartans aren’t the cream of the crop in the Big Ten, but are certainly better than some teams they’ve had the last few seasons.
After Mel Tucker’s firing, the Spartans program hired Jonathan Smith, the former head coach at Oregon State in the offseason. When Smith was brought in, he took his quarterback with him, Aidan Chiles. Chiles, a former four-star recruit, has struggled through his first few weeks in East Lansing, throwing seven interceptions so far, the most in the country. He has just four passing touchdowns on the year and really struggled in last week’s loss, throwing zero touchdowns and three of his seven picks. On the bright side, he’s found a little juice in the run game lately, with three rushing scores on the season. He is more than capable of burning the Buckeye defense with his legs, but until he can prove he can pick apart Denzel Burke, Caleb Downs, and the rest of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ defense, there’s no chance he’ll be allowed much freedom on the ground.
Elsewhere for the Spartans, Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams and Nate Carter have proven to be a formidable one-two punch in the backfield. The two have over 500 total yards between them and two touchdowns. True freshman Nick Marsh has probably been the most fun Michigan State player to watch so far this season, as he leads the Spartans in receiving yards with 232 and has a touchdown in just three games. He missed last week’s game with an injury and if he plays, the two best receivers on the field could both be true freshmen with Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith being the other. If Marsh is unavailable, look for wide receivers Montorie Foster and Aziah Johnson, as well as tight end Jack Velling, to pick up the slack.
On the Ohio State side of the field, the defense will be under pressure to perform. After a very strong first two games, they struggled a bit against Marshall, giving up two touchdowns. Knowles expressed his displeasure in the performance by not giving out the signature ‘Silver Bullet,’ a tradition that involves recognizing one player on the defensive side that shined in the game. The Buckeyes will also hopefully get starting defensive tackle Tyleik Williams back after missing the last game with an injury.
Offensively, the breakout of Smith was well documented in the first two games, but against Marshall, it was the veteran in the room, Emeka Egbuka that was great. Egbuka, who passed up a potential first round selection in last year’s NFL Draft to return to Columbus, had five catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in the win and amidst the youth in the receiving core, they’ll need him to be the number one guy.
Additionally, the two-headed monster in the running game of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson has looked very strong. In the first power conference game of the season, it will be fascinating to see how offensive coordinator Chip Kelly utilizes them both, especially seeing how Judkins has looked better so far and gotten more carries but Henderson is older and has incredible big play potential. However it shakes out, they’ll both need to play well to take some of the pressure off quarterback Will Howard, who threw his first interception of the year last week and will be the target of criticism in a tough road environment.
Even though Saturday’s game will get fans a bit more nervous than they’ve been in previous weeks, it’s safe to say that we’re all glad that we’re finally in Big Ten play. MAC and Sun Belt opponents are fun, but now it’s time for some real competition. The hunt for Ohio State’s first national championship in a decade begins now.
