EAST LANSING — Cal Haladay thought for a moment about Michigan State FootballI watched the last four games against Ohio State and tried to answer a simple but complex question.
Is the SpartansAt any point during these defeats, did you feel like you had a chance?
The fifth-year senior linebacker pointed to Charles Brantley’s interception of CJ Stroud early in their 2022 meeting. It tied the score at 7-7 with 8:32 left in the first quarter.
“I think in that game,” Haladay recalled Wednesday, “we felt like we could compete with those guys and we could hold our own against them.”
AIDEN IN CHARGE: Chiles knows he needs to cut down on his interceptions if the Michigan State football team is going to win games
Three plays later, Stroud threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Emeke Egbuka. The rout was on. Final score: 49-20, a game that was over by halftime.
It was the closest MSU ever came to a showdown with the juggernaut Ohio State under former coach Mel Tucker. And it wasn’t close.
Tucker is gone and new coach Jonathan Smith inherited a program that has lost eight straight games to the BuckeyesThe Spartans’ challenge once again is to try to limit No. 3 Ohio State’s explosive attack and close the crushing gap between the two programs when they meet again Saturday at Spartan Stadium (7:30 p.m., streaming on Peacock).
“You know that logo, that style of football,” Smith said Monday of his game against the Buckeyes. “They’re a tough opponent.”
MSU (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) knows that. Especially with the way the Buckeyes (3-0, 0-0) have manhandled the Sprtans in recent years.
Ohio State has outscored MSU during its winning streak by a whopping 243 points (320-77). That includes a 205-42 margin over the last four years, with a composite halftime score of 147-26. The Spartans’ defense has allowed 531.4 yards per game over the last seven meetings, with the Buckeyes topping 600 yards twice and 500 yards four other times.
In the 2022 game Haladay references, MSU ended up giving up 614 yards. A year earlier, despite going 10-2 and finishing in the top 10 of the postseason polls, the Spartans gave up 655 yards to the Buckeyes, the third-most yards given up in a single game in school history.
Coach Ryan Day’s offense continues to be dynamic this season. OSU ranks third in the country in scoring (52.3 points per game) and fifth in total offense (552 yards per game) — 14th in both passing (311 yards) and rushing (241). Haladay called them “one of the best offenses in the country.”
“We know they’re good and they’re going to be an explosive offense,” Haladay said. “And I think our ability to respond, even if they make a big play, to come back the next play and be able to come down and limit the points on the board, I think that’s going to be a really key factor in the game.”
Over the past three seasons against MSU, OSU’s starting quarterbacks have completed 77 of 92 passes (84.7 percent) for 1,128 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception. New starting quarterback Will Howard, a transfer from Kansas State, has 795 yards on 68.9 percent passing with six TDs and one interception this season.
His targets all have big-play potential. Egbuka is still there and has 14 receptions for 266 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Jeremiah Smith leads the Buckeyes with 281 yards and four touchdowns among his 14 receptions, while Carnell Tate has 11 receptions for 167 yards and a touchdown.
“They’re explosive, they’re fast. They run precise routes,” MSU’s new defensive backs coach Blue Adams said Wednesday. “I think it’s a good challenge for us to see where we’re at, evaluate where we’re at, but they’re impressive.”
CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE: Jonathan Smith takes a different approach than Mark Dantonio for Michigan State-Ohio State
The Spartans’ defense has been hampered by injuries over the final four games of the season. Cornerback Chance Rucker and utility Dillon Tatum remain out indefinitely, and backup safety Khalil Majeed is out for the season. Starting safety Malik Spencer and nickelback Angelo Grose also both left the field briefly during Boston College’s final scoring drive in the fourth quarter Saturday, returning and dropping a 42-yard touchdown pass that led to a 23-19 loss, MSU’s first of the season.
“It’s tough when your player says, ‘Hey, I’m ready to play.’ And you look him in the eye and you see he’s ready to play, so you put him on the field,” Adams said of that final TD that marred an otherwise solid and stingy defensive performance. “We expected him to do the job. And unfortunately, we didn’t.”
The Spartans’ defensive renaissance is evident, though. New coordinator Joe Rossi’s group ranks 14th in the country in total defense with 254.8 yards allowed per game, 26th with 158 passing yards allowed and 25th in points allowed (14.3). But the Spartans have yet to face a passing attack as prolific and efficient as the Buckeyes’.
While at Minnesota, Rossi’s defense faced OSU three times, losing each time while allowing an average of 37.3 points and 447 yards in those games. However, he has the experience to know Day’s offensive tendencies, while several other defensive coaches who followed Smith to MSU from Oregon State know what works against first-year Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who was previously the head coach at UCLA.
“We know some of the things (Kelly) does, but he’s still a problem,” said cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, who coached Kelly’s offenses at UCLA while he was at Arizona, Colorado and Oregon the past six seasons. “We’re going to need more time in the film room to get guys up to speed on what they’re doing.”
That can only go so far, especially with the talent the NFL brings in waves. But Smith has convinced his players they can beat the Buckeyes for the first time since the Spartans’ spectacular 2015 victory in Columbus.
“I think we believe we can beat anybody, no matter who it is,” linebacker Jordan Hall said Wednesday. “I’ve said it before, we’re going to respect everybody and we have to play to the same level. We know they’re a good team with good athletes, but we’re also a good team with good athletes. …
“Coach Smith, in our team meeting yesterday, stressed that we need to leave our capes at home. We don’t need superheroes. We just need 11 people on the field at the same time, doing their job.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And find all our podcasts and our daily voice briefing on freep.com/podcasts.
This article was originally published on the Detroit Free Press: Michigan State defense looks to end Ohio State’s offensive dominance
