Ohio State football’s early-season schedule drew a ton of criticism from numerous personalities, and most still are harping on how the Buckeyes have yet to play a Power 5 opponent.
That will change Saturday as they head up to East Lansing to face conference opponent Michigan State.
However, former Michigan wide receiver and current college football personality Desmond Howard isn’t letting the public forget about the Buckeyes first month.
‘The trenches, watch that battle in the trenches. I’m not sure – I’m gonna have to ask Pete [Thamel] later on because Michigan State has lost at least three wide receivers early in the season. I don’t know who’s coming back. … But Ohio State, finally, welcome to the 2024 college football season up in East Lansing against Sparty,” Howard said on College Football Live via On3’s Nick Schultz.
The Spartans aren’t exactly a team expected to give Ohio State hiccups. They are 3-1 on the season but are coming off a 23-19 road loss to Boston College. Michigan State has exceeded expectations when an underdog. It is 1-1 as an underdog and has covered the spread in both games as an underdog.
The Spartans haven’t beaten the Buckeyes since 2015 though, dropping eight straight games. Ohio State beat Michigan State 49-20 the last time both teams were in East Lansing (2022).
With conference games starting to heat up, the Buckeyes schedule will start to either prove the doubters right or wrong, especially with Iowa on October 5 and Oregon the week after.
Ohio State still has Oregon, Penn State and Michigan on the schedule, all currently within the top 15.