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Sep. 28—Ohio State football is set to end September by beginning Big Ten play.
The third-ranked Buckeyes (4-0) have not faced much of a challenge yet, and it remains to be seen how much better their opponent is Saturday night as Michigan State (3-1) is coming off its first loss of the season.
Ryan Day remains more worried about his team anyway.
“It’s always about us,” the Ohio State head coach said this week. “So we always say that the opponent doesn’t matter, but all that being said, yeah, going on the road and a conference opponent is a big deal so everything’s got to ramp up. Now we’re into game four and we got to keep upgrading each week.”
Here are five things to know about the game:
1. This is a new-look Michigan State team.
Jonathan Smith was hired in the offseason after revitalizing Oregon State, his alma mater.
He inherited a Michigan State program that is not that far removed from being one of the best in the Big Ten, but the Spartans have been in turmoil more often than not the last few seasons.
They started this season 3-0 before losing 23-19 at Boston College last week on a late touchdown pass.
“Different style of defense,” Day said. “Different coordinator. Some of the same players, but also some new guys.
“I think they’ve changed a little bit more on offense. More of what they did at Oregon State — huddling, a little bit more, under center, some more 12 personnel (two tight ends) where they were a little bit more spread out, shotgun, no-huddle in the past.”
2. The Spartans would rather recreate the distant past than recent history.
Michigan State has only beaten Ohio State 15 times in 52 meetings, but almost half of those victories were top 10 upsets.
The Spartans knocked off No. 1 Ohio State teams in 1974 and ’98, No. 2 in 2013 and ’15, No. 5 in ’72, No. 7 in ’51 and No. 9 in ’71.
No such magic has been…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/look-michigan-state-next-ohio-141100970.html
Author : Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Publish date : 2024-09-28 14:11:00
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