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Michigan State Pregame News and Notes

1. Ezekiel Elliott has 3,565 rushing yards for his Buckeye career, which is third best in Ohio State history. Zeke needs 204 yards to surpass Eddie George (3,768 yards) for second place.

2. Zeke has 1,425 rushing yards on the season, which is already the 12th-best single season in school history. If Zeke hits his season average of 143 yards per game, then he will move into 7th place.

3. Zeke is averaging 142.5 yards per game in 2015, which is currently third best at Ohio State. Eddie George leads the way with 148.2 yards per game in 1995 (1,927 yards in 13 games).

4. Eddie George set the Buckeyes' single-season rushing record in 1995 with 1,927 yards in 13 games. Zeke needs to average 167.3 yards per game over the next three games to match Eddie's mark.

5. Elliott is averaging 99.0 yards per game for his career (3,565 yards in 36 games), which is currently second best in Ohio State history behind Archie Griffin (121.5 yards per game).

6. Zeke now has 36 career rushing touchdowns, tying him for fifth place at Ohio State with Harold "Champ" Henson and Tim Spencer, and leaving him one behind Carlos Hyde for fourth place.

7. Michael Thomas has 1,482 career receiving yards, which is 18th-best at Ohio State. Thomas needs 196 yards to pass Terry Glenn (1,677 yards) for 17th place.

8. Thomas has 102 career receptions, which is good for 17th place at Ohio State. He needs 5 receptions to pass Doug Donley and Ken-Yon Rambo (106 receptions each) for 15th place, and 7 receptions to pass Joey Galloway and Billy Anders (108 receptions each) for 13th place.

9. Thomas has 17 career receiving touchdowns, which ties him with Terry Glenn for 9th best in Buckeye history. He needs two touchdowns to tie Joey Galloway and Dane Sanzenbacher (19 TDs each) for 8th place.

10. Joey Bosa has 48.5 TFLs for his Buckeye career. Bosa is currently in 5th place on the career TFL list, behind Andy Katzenmoyer (50.0), Jason Simmons (56.5), Matt Finkes (59.0), and Mike Vrabel (66.0).

11. Joey Bosa has 25.0 sacks for his Buckeye career. Bosa is now tied with Matt Finkes for third place on Ohio State's list of career sack leader, trailing only Jason Simmons (27.5 sacks) and Mike Vrabel (36.0 sacks).

12. This game features a good offense (Ohio State) against a good defense (Michigan State), and a great defense (Ohio State) against a mediocre offense (Michigan State).

TeamTotal OffenseNCAA RankScore OffenseNCAA RankTotal DefenseNCAA RankScore DefenseNCAA Rank
Ohio State453.3 ypg33rd36.4 ppg26th298.4 ypg9th13.8 ppg2nd
Michigan State406.3 ypg62nd32.9 ppg44th364.0 ypg46th22.3 ppg35th
The strength of Ohio State's offense is their running attack, while stopping the run is the strength of Michigan State's defense. On the other hand, Michigan State's offensive strength is their passing game, while defending the pass is the strength of Ohio State's defense. In other words, today's game should be a battle of strength vs. strength.

TeamRush OffenseNCAA RankPass OffenseNCAA RankRush DefenseNCAA RankPass DefenseNCAA Rank
Ohio State244.8 ypg11th208.5 ypg84th126.8 ypg24th171.6 ypg8th
Michigan State152.4 ypg92nd253.9 ypg37th121.0 ypg18th243.0 ypg86th

13. Ohio State leads the series 29-14-0, for a .674 winning percentage. For a more in depth history of the Ohio State-Michigan State rivalry, follow this LINK.
 
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