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Sparty at tOSU, Nov 20th, 12 pm ET, ABC

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No. 8 Michigan State may have the most treacherous road left with matchups against sixth-ranked Michigan (Saturday), Purdue, Maryland, fifth-ranked Ohio State and No. 20 Penn State left to play. Can Mel Tucker’s group come out of that still unblemished?

Answer: Hell NO.

MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (7-0)
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ESPN FPI rank: No. 14

FPI’s first projected loss: Ohio State (Spartans hold 13.5% win probability).

The word: The FPI expects Michigan State to finish 10-2 this season, with losses coming to Michigan (Saturday) and Ohio State. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 1 nationally in offense at the moment while Michigan’s shown vast improvement this fall on that side of the football. Michigan State’s not exactly battle-tested with its only notable win up to this point coming at Miami on Sept. 18. Will it matter down the stretch? Mel Tucker knows this year’s defining moments come over his team’s next five outings.

Just sayin': If FPI projects Sparty to lose to scUM this weekend, wouldn't that be their 1st projected loss? In addition, ESPN's FPI just sucks anyway.
 
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NFBuck said:
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Valenti makes a good point here that is relevant to the upcoming game with Sparty

Sparty makes plays when they count, and that appears like it might be the Buckeyes’ Achilles heel this season. The defense struggles on third down (comparatively speaking) and the offense’s struggles in the red zone in a couple of games probably shouldn’t be mentioned so soon (oops). Sparty just beat TTUN by doing the opposite.

MSU is last in the B1G in total defense in conference games; an impressive feat when you consider they’ve done it without having played the Buckeyes. Yet they tighten up in the red zone enough to win every game so far.

Playing that kind of team before the playoff could be good for the Buckeyes’ growth this season, assuming that they can shore up their 3rd down and red zone performance before then. Otherwise, the payoff for that lesson might have to wait until next year
 
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