Ohio State went to East Lansing looking to stay on track for the biggest of prizes. It left with it all in tact — but barely. Here are five things to take away from the close shave against the Spartans.
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5. This game shouldn’t hurt OSU in the eyes of the CFP committee
Of course many experts have come out of the blustery noise of all the social media to declare Ohio State unworthy to be in the College Football Playoff because of this showing against a Michigan State team just 3-7 coming into the game.
Regardless of result, not sure this tight #OSUvsMSU game's good for #Buckeyes hopes for non-conf champ Playoff bid…
— Bonnie Bernstein (@BonnieBernstein) November 19, 2016
If you are one of those, you either didn’t watch the game, or are taking this game in a vacuum. Or, you simply don’t understand all the variable at play here.
Did OSU struggle? Sure. But the game was attended by old man winter, and we all know the weather can have a tendency to be a great equalizer. Michigan State was able to load up against the run and make throwing the ball into a stiff wind at times very, very difficult.
Add that to the fact that there are 28 kids from Ohio on the Spartan squad, it was senior day, and the undeniable notion that the Spartans have been improving, and there was plenty to be wary of. The Spartans had a good showing against arch-rival Michigan, and followed it up with a public flogging of Maryland last week.
You also can’t look at just this game. Ohio State has wins over Oklahoma on the road, a 62-3 win at home over Nebraska, and a slew of other blowouts. It’s the body of work folks, not one game. There aren’t a lot of better résumés out there.
Lucky? Maybe a little, but the Buckeyes should get credit for winning in a tough environment and making the plays when they needed to. If it beats Michigan next week, it’ll hardly matter anyhow.
4. The way to beat OSU is to go man on man donnybrook style
Forget the spread attack, or crazy gimmick plays. The way to play with, and sometimes beat Ohio State under Urban Meyer is by puffing your chest out, eating some nails and trying to be a sledgehammer.
Wisconsin took Ohio State the distance in Madison by trying to bludgeon the opponent, and the Spartans are the only team with two wins against the Meyer led Buckeye teams. We know the style they play. The only loss was against a Penn State team that won the battle on the line of scrimmage.
Add this one to that sample size.
Teams just don’t practice against a physical pro-style attack any longer. Especially when the offense you go against daily is spread attack. Its a power-spread, but spread nonetheless.
You have to have the personnel to do it, but teams that can hike up their britches and play big-boy football can negate the skill and athleticism of this Ohio State team.
3. OSU’s passing game isn’t going to win games
Let’s call it what it is right now; the OSU passing game isn’t the strength of this team. Sure, the unit blocks well down the field, but there’s been enough sore spots in the season to believe that throwing the ball is just a compliment to the power running of Barrett and Weber, and the plays out in space by Curtis Samuel.
Ohio State doesn’t always need to push the ball down the field vertically, but it could be the one area that teams with much more talent will be able to exploit.
Yes, the weather had something to do with it today, but it didn’t in Happy Valley, and it definitely didn’t in Columbus against Northwestern. I’d say to go back to the drawing board, but it’s likely too late for that.
2. Ohio State won despite Mark Dantonio pulling out all the stops
Dantonio had to know that his team was outmanned coming into this one. Athlete for athlete, there’s not many teams that stack up with what the Buckeyes can roll out on the field.
So it’s no surprise that Mark Dantonio reached into his bag of tricks to try and swing momentum time after time.
There was this odd formation:
Formation's are getting strange in East Lansing. #OSUvsMSU #B1G #GoBucks #Spartans https://t.co/68PTnyOx4q
— Phil Harrison (@PhilHarrisonBW) November 19, 2016
There was also the fake punt in the fourth quarter, and then the bold call to go for the two-point conversion to try and take the lead late in the game. It was far from successful:
This 2-point failed conversion by MSU was the play of the game. #OSUvsMSU https://t.co/g2dCDLvwbX
— Phil Harrison (@PhilHarrisonBW) November 19, 2016
1. Ohio State is battle tested
There have been a lot of blowout games, but in between those, Ohio State has played its share of close games. There was the OT win against Wisconsin in Madison, the close, close loss in Happy Valley, a tough win against Northwestern, and now this one in East Lansing in less-than-ideal conditions.
Say what you will about game control. There is certainly plenty of that for Ohio State in the season, but there’s always something to be said too about going through the fire and winning in the face of adversity.
In today’s college football landscape, you just want to be able to walk out with a win in these games that seem to spiral out of control. Count this in that column.
You’d like to think it will serve Ohio State well in the future when the palms get sweaty again. In fact, that’s likely to happen next week in The Game.
Bring on “That School Up North.”
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Phil Harrison is a frequent contributor to The Student Section. He is also a featured contributor to collegefootballews.com, and talking10.com. You can follow him on twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB or email him at pharrison28@gmail.com. If that doesn’t work, you can find him in the doghouse at home.
