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Game Thread Ohio State @ Michigan State - 11/10/18, 12:00PM (FOX)

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Greyshirt said:
Well since I have watched ever MSU game this year and been at all the home games I can give you some perspective.

- My first thought after NW game was this was a for sure loss for MSU, now I am not sure. MSU defense has evolved and has gotten better and better each week. The offense not so much but the D keeps them in games.

Scouting report-

- MSU gives up a lot of passing yards because they are so tough to run against, the defense is once again very solid and just got back our best Corner so that should help
- MSU defense is designed to stop the run and bend don't break against the pass, so we give you the slants at times and short passing game banking you can't do it all game
- in a word the Defense is good, very good, becoming dominating at times
- Offensively, I think the word is bad, and Coach D has proven to be just bad at handling QBs, Lewerke has been unable to throw the ball the last few games, so one will see, Why he didn't start Rocky is madness last game
- O-line can't move people too well, at best usually a stalemate
- our punt game has become horrific, down to a 3rd string walk on punter who had an 8 and 11 yard punt last weekend
- Kicker very very good
- return game sucks, our punt return game is so bad, I have no words, literally the worse in the B10
- WR are good but best one out for season

MSU is Tressel ball at its finest. Keep game close, don't make mistakes, rely on defense and ball control. I think everyone MSU beats looks back at the game and wonders how that happened on some level. MSU relies on perfect execution to win. And when they are dialed in that works against teams of similar or same talent level very well and at times dominating. So MSU is definitely back focusing on execution which will keep this close. tOSU has more talent but if they do not execute at a high level this game could be extremely frustrating for the Buckeyes ( and their fans....). It is supposed to be a very cold dry day. Weather should not be much of a factor other than cold as hell. High is 34 right now. But no rain or prediction of high winds.
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Thanks. A couple questions for you:

1. What happened in that Michigan game, in your view?
2. Does Coach D start Rocky against OSU?
3. What your pass rush look like this year?
 
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1- Michigan game - in a word our Offense sucks and that was when we found out that Lewerke has an injury to his throwing shoulder that it "hurts" every time he throws the ball. But our coach in all his wisdom ask Lewerke if he thought he could go......like how can you let a player make that call, use his performance in practice to see if he can throw. Additionally, SCum D is solid and the offense was consistent. With Lewerke at QB MSU had no chance to win, not saying we win with Rocky but we had a chance. Lewerke is right now the worse passing QB in the league, he is that bad.

2- I half think he didn't play Rocky against Maryland to hide him from OSU. I mean that is how bad Lewerke looked. Like trying to sell the idea that Rocky is much worse than an injured Lewerke. MSU has no chance to beat OSU with Lewerke. With Rocky they have a chance. And I think MSU beats Neb and Rutgers with zero passing yards based how well the defense is playing. So Coach D is hard to figure out and hard to argue with the success. I can't imagine why MSU wouldn't start Rocky with his running ability and health.

3- pass rush is not elite, DE are decent but not high level types that get to the QB consistently. Willekes #48 makes some noise and plays with high motor. MSU does some zone blitzing and usually needs to send someone to get it home but in general it is above average. Not elite and not like SCum pass rush. LB play is very good especially Bachie #35.

I expect MSU to quiet the run game. The question will be how well they pressure the QB and defend the pass. The pass rush has not been consistent all season. But we just got back our Freshman All American CB Scott. And SCum scored 2 of 3 TDs on his replacement. So one could guess that if Scott is in game that MSU might win 10-7 in OT because our Offense still sucks.

If MSU socres 24 points I expect to win. If MSU scores 13 or under MSU loses. I don't see tOSU scoring over 28 points this game. But I could see MSU getting shut out.......yeah our Offense is that bad at times.
 
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bukIpower said:
Which is exactly why this will be a close game. This offense MSU has should score under 10 points if we were a good defense but we arent a good defense.

So due to our poor defense this will be a game when it shouldn't be.
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I think the other side of the ball is maybe more interesting here, and will be more telling, because the OSU offense, while statistically very strong this year, has mostly feasted on weak defenses. Will they be able to score touchdowns against the best defense they've seen this year? Just going by crude statistics (not adjusted for opponent strength) MSU's defense is identical to TCU's in yards allowed, but is considerably better than TCU's in points allowed. This is consistent with @Greyshirt's observation about the MSU defense giving up significant passing yards, but few points. Note that the OSU offense "only" scored 26 points against TCU (with a failed 2-pt conversion).

Given that, a few bullet-pointed thoughts on the OSU offense this week:

  • Will the short-yardage jumbo package, and more designed runs, work against the best run defense the OSU offense has seen this year? The results against Nebraska were promising, but MSU's run defense is enormously better than Nebraska's. If not...
  • ...Dwayne and The Hartline Band had better be on-point, and will likely need to score at least three passing touchdowns of 30+ yards. Because if the jumbo package doesn't work, first and goal means a field goal.
  • The rash of turnovers last weekend needs to have been a fluke. If the OSU offense turns the ball over three times, 20 points scored by the offense is wildly optimistic.
And on special teams, for God's sake, be ready for a fake punt, fake field goal, or mid-game onside kick.
 
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I still say if this offense fires on all cylinders and puts together a complete game, they can be extremely lethal. We’ve yet to see the running game and passing game clicking at the same time.

Would love for this to be the one where everything comes together leading up to The Game. They need something to light the country’s eyes up and induce some fear.
 
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For me the key is stopping Sparty's running game. That's why I think we need White at Safety again. He has great instincts, closes well and makes the tackle. Seeing some meat up front with Togai and Garrett and Hamilton inside might also be helpful. We will need more production from Borland and Werner at LB. This can be a big game for them if they make the right reads and don't over pursue. Passing wise my biggest concern is Sparty's TE's.
 
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zincfinger said:
  • ...Dwayne and The Hartline Band had better be on-point, and will likely need to score at least three passing touchdowns of 30+ yards. Because if the jumbo package doesn't work, first and goal means a field goal.
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We'll need to come out throwing to open up the run. We'd be complete fools to think that our offensive line, which has struggled mightily against Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota, will be able to push around a run defense like MSU's.
 
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MililaniBuckeye said:
I watched the whole game. Aside from a drive or two, the OL still struggled, by our standards.
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Well, the results say otherwise, at least for 2018:

- Dobbins had 163 yards, a 7.1 average, 3 TDs and a long of 42 yards. Those were all season highs.
- Weber had a 10.1 average, which was a season high, to go along with 91 yards and a long of 37, which were both good for his second-best game of the season.
 
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