It’s game day Buckeye fans and Ohio State is tasked with going on the road for the first time in 2022 to face Big Ten foe Michigan State.
Many don’t expect this to be a game, but you just never know what type of situations you’ll encounter with taking a team to an away venue for the first time, especially when things have gone so smoothly at home. Oh, and OSU will be without a few key members in East Lansing, so depth could play an issue.
Still, many expect Ohio State to roll against a Michigan State team that’s lost three in a row and struggled mightily to be the force it was in 2021. Even last year, the Buckeyes were able to expose the Spartan defense, and that might be the case again.
Anyway, we think the Buckeyes should take care of business on Saturday, and here are five reasons why.
Michigan State's injuries
You hate to see it, but this time of year, many teams are dealing with the injury bug. Ohio State is, and Michigan State certainly is. The Spartans were missing three of their starting defensive linemen last week, and have been without the services of safety Xavier Henderson and linebacker Darius Snow since before and early on in the season. That doesn’t bode well for keeping the lid on the OSU passing game, and that was bad enough last season. Big advantage Ohio State.
Ohio State's ability to stop the run on defense
Ohio State has shown marked improvement against the run in 2022, especially when the starters have been in there. The Buckeyes are allowing only 110.4 yards per contest, but that number is ballooned up because of some junk time big runs. The formula for beating this team seems to be a ball control running attack to keep OSU’s offense off the field, and that’s a lot harder to do this season, and doubtful that the Spartans can pull it off.
Michigan State's inability to make plays down the field in the passing game
Michigan State seems to be able to play with Ohio State when it has a quarterback that can make plays down the field. Payton Thorne has that ability but hasn’t been consistent this season, often missing receivers high when he tries for the big play. Because of that, receiver Jayden Reed and company haven’t been very dynamic this season. If you can’t run it, you better be able to pass for yards, and that just hasn’t been the case enough for the Spartans over the last three weeks most especially.
The Ohio State offensive line
Ohio State’s offensive line has probably not gotten enough credit this season. The starting five is a veteran bunch that has been fantastic both in moving the line of scrimmage for running backs and in keeping C.J. Stroud upright. When you hit the road, getting outstanding line play is a must to control things and quiet the crowd. That type of stuff travels well and figures to be more than fine in hostile environment Saturday
C.J. Stroud
Sometimes you just have the dude. When things break down and all else fails, if you have a playmaker that can put the team on his shoulders, play backyard football and make something happen, it sure helps. Many games have been won by super-talented guys just making plays outside of what has been designed. Ohio State has that in C.J. Stroud and if things get rough, you have to like the chances of the Heisman frontrunner finding the right guy and the right time to pull things out, if it even gets that far with Stroud shooting lasers from his backside early on.
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