The win should clear the way for the Buckeyes for the Big 10 Championship game,provided they can take care of business in their final three games.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns,while Devin Smith and Michael Thomas each caught touchdown passes and finished with 129 and 91 yards respectively in receiving.
The now 8-1 (5-0 Big 10) Buckeyes will play their final road game of the season next week at Minnesota...
Olentangy Offerings
1) Either Michigan State's fifth ranked nationally defense was overrated or the Ohio State offense came into their own last night in East Lansing.
I think both come into play a little,but there can be no doubt that the Buckeyes offense matured.
Tom Herman called a great game and the Buckeyes easily discovered that J.T. Barrett can be trusted and,,,
2) I had commented to my Buckeye buddy Ian that if the Buckeyes were going to win,they were going to have to cut the reigns on J.T. Barrett,let him play and see what they had.
What that means is that in both of the Buckeye struggles this season (The loss to Virginia Tech and the overtime win over Penn State),Ohio State had kept Barrett conservative and didn't allow the offense to be aggressive and played not to lose.
Last night against the Spartans,Ohio State made the decision to let Barrett run the offense and attack.
Well over 500 yards later and a huge win on the road,that decision was proven to be the right one...
3) J.T. Barrett may have extinguished the ghost of Braxton Miller in this game.
I'll put aside the issue of Miller vs Barrett in 2015 as a topic for next year,but 2014 is the year for Barrett,who as a pure passer might be better than Miller.
Barrett was strong in the pocket and even though Barrett isn't as speedy or as elusive runner as Miller,he is a more powerful runner.
Great night (5 TD's will do that) for Barrett..
4) Ian and I also wondered around halftime why the Buckeyes didn't use Ezekiel Elliott more,especially when he had been effective on the ground.
The second half would see Elliott's use and be increased to the tune of 154 yards with a long run of 47 yards.
Elliott will come in quite handy in....
5) Could this win send the Buckeyes to the final four?
Well,it is possible,but what it will take is Michigan State winning to finish with two losses and either Wisconsin or Nebraska to win out entering the Big 10 championship title game.
I'm still not sure that happens,but those two teams will have do their jobs for the chance to increase..
6) Pivotal play-Late in the first half,Michigan State took over after a Dontrel Wilson fumble on the kick return and Michigan State quickly scored a touchdown that was called back for holding.
Michael Geiger then missed a field goal from 39 yards away.
Uncle mo had switched and...
7) J.T. Barrett began to establish that Michigan State could be beaten with the pass-especially the medium pass and struck on the first play with a 79 yard catch and run to tie the game to Michael Thomas.
Those two plays meant the difference between 24-14 Spartans in front of a rocking crowd and a 21-21 tie deflating the stadium...
8) Joey Bosa was kept under control by the Michigan State offensive line,but the attention given Bosa allowed Michael Bennett to have his best game all season,Bennett's name was consistently called and was the best Buckeye player on defense in the win...
9) Dontre' Wilson fumbled two kickoffs (the Buckeyes recovered one of them) and dropped a easy touchdown pass.
Wilson partially redeemed himself later with a fourth quarter touchdown catch,but for a player that hit Columbus with hype as a playmaker,I've been disappointed...
10) Hard to believe (or maybe not) this victory over the 8th ranked Spartans was the first win over a top ten team since Urban Meyer hit Columbus.
The scheduled non-conference powers have turned out to be not so powerful and the weak Big Ten hasn't added much either.but this does add to that resume'.
11) -The defense still allowed 37 points and the pass defense still is flawed (356 yards allowed).
I'm afraid that against top notch competition that the defense still isn't quite of national title quality.
I'm not saying the Buckeyes are a title threat if they get to the playoffs and I still think they are a year away from being a strong all-around team,but this was a great road win over a classy and strong competitor.
12) I'm a Mark Dantonio fan and he is building a classy program in East Lansing.
The Spartans played hard,but not dirty and conducted themselves with class before,during and after the game.
Nice to see someone from Michigan coach with class,but the gentleman that doesn't know how to conduct themselves with grace likely will be looking for a new job in a month....
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