Buckeyes Conclude Home Schedule with Top 10 Matchup vs. Michigan State
11/16/2021 9:41:04 AM | Football
It will be a Top 10 matchup on national TV Saturday in Ohio Stadium as No. 5 (Associated Press) Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan State square off at noon on ABC TV.
Both teams are 9-1 on the season. Ohio State is 7-0 in the Big Ten East Division with Michigan State 6-1. Michigan, at Maryland this week, is also 6-1 in the East.
ESPN’s College GameDay is on-site Saturday outside St. John Arena. The pregame show will get the day’s festivities started at 9 a.m.
THE BASICS
No. 7 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State • Saturday, Nov. 20 • When: noon • Where: Ohio Stadium • TV: ABC
• Radio: 97.1 The Fan
- Ohio State leads the nation in scoring offense (46.3 points per game), total offense (550.4 yards/game), touchdowns scored (59) and yards per play (8.03).
- The Buckeyes are coming off their fifth 50-point game of the season in which they totaled 624 yards of total offense and scored TDs on eight of 10 possessions
(excluding running out the clock at the end of the game) in a 59-31 win over Purdue. - Only three times this season have the Buckeyes been held under 500 yards of total offense: vs. Minnesota, Penn State and Nebraska.
- C.J. Stroud, a six-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, directs the offense and has been sensational as a first-year starter. He ranks in the top five nationally in quarterback efficiency (fifth, 179.4), touchdown passes (fifth, 30) and yards per attempt (fifth, 9.8).
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave rank second, fourth and eighth in the Big Ten, respectively, in receiving yards per game. Olave is tied for the national lead with 11 TD receptions while Wilson is eighth with nine.
- After registering just two sacks in the first two games of the season, Ohio State has 32 sacks in the last eight contests (4.0 per game; T6th nationally).
THE MOST — OF ANY SCHOOL
- Ohio State will be playing at a College GameDay site for the 51st time, most of any program in the country. The Buckeyes are
35- 15 all-time in “GameDay” games. - The Buckeyes have also hosted College GameDay more than any other program in the country, with 20 previous stops in Columbus.
- Though not held in consecutive weeks, Ohio State is the only school to play in three consecutive College GameDay games in the same season. In 1996, GameDay was at Ohio State’s games against Notre Dame (29-16 win), Penn State (38-7 win) and Iowa (38-26 win).
- And in 2020, GameDay was on hand for Ohio State games vs. Penn State (a 38-25 win), vs. Clemson (a 49-28 win at the Sugar Bowl at the College Football Playoff) and vs. Alabama (a 52-24 loss at the CFP National Championship Game).
SENIOR DAY 2021
- This class of senior Buckeyes is representative back to the 2016 season, because of the Covid pandemic.
- These 24 student-athletes are the first senior class in Big Ten Conference history to win four consecutive outright Big Ten championships.
- Over the last five years these seniors have combined for a 54-6 overall record and are
37- 2 against Big Ten teams. - The Buckeyes who will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday are: Aaron Cox, Jack Jamieson, Robert Cope, Austin Kutscher, Jagger LaRoe, Corey Rau, Ryan Batsch, Cade Kacherski, Sam Wiglusz, Chris Booker, Cameron Brown, Master Teague, Mitch Rossi, Tyreke Smith, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Sevyn Banks, Bradley Robinson, Jeremy Ruckert, Marcus Williamson, Antwuan Jackson, Demario McCall, Haskell Garrett, Chris Olave and Thayer Munford.
OLAVE NEARING RECORD FOR CAREER TD RECEPTIONS
- Olave, a 45-game veteran in his Buckeye career, is just two touchdown receptions short of breaking a 23-year-old record. Olave is currently second on the all-time list behind David Boston, who caught 34 TD passes from 1996 to 1998.
- Olave, with 11 TD catches this season, is tied for first nationally in that category. He’s also fifth in career receptions (162) and sixth in receiving yards (2,683) at OSU.
MR. AUTOMATIC
- Noah Ruggles has converted on a nation’s-best 18 consecutive field goal attempts. He hit his final two attempts in 2019 at North Carolina and is 16-of-16 as a Buckeye.
- Ruggles has also converted on 25 consecutive FGAs inside of 50 yards. He is 35- of-43 for his career in FGs; 105-of-105 in extra point attempts.
TREVEYON’S TOUCHDOWNS
- TreVeyon Henderson has scored at least one touchdown in nine of 10 games.
- He ranks T4th nationally with 17 TDs scored and needs just two more to set an Ohio State freshman record.
- Henderson also ranks 17th nationally with 102.8 yards per game and ninth overall with a yards per carry average of 7.3.
NO. 1 IN DEFENSIVE TDs
- Ohio State remains No. 1 nationally with six defensive touchdowns (tied with Nevada).
- The defense has four “pick-6s”: Cam Martinez, 61 vs. Tulsa; Ronnie Hickman 41 vs. Akron; Denzel Burke, 23 vs. Rutgers; and Craig Young, 70 vs. Maryland.
- Garrett has a 32-yard fumble return TD vs. Minnesota and Jerron Cage added a
57- yard fumble return vs. Penn State. - Ohio State is tied for 15th nationally in INTs with 11.
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Michigan State has defeated a Top 5 nationally-ranked Ohio State team five times, includ-ing defeating a No. 1-ranked Ohio State team three times: in 1974 (16-13), 1998 (28-24) and 2015 (17-14).
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It was the Michigan State Spartans who stopped Ohio State’s Big Ten Conference and national, all conference record 30-game conference winning streak on Nov. 21, 2015 at Ohio Stadium.
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Just one yard, on average per game, separates Michigan State’s and Ohio State’s identical rushing attack stats: Spartans – 197.8 ypg; 5.27 ypc; 21 TDs; Buckeyes – 196.8 ypg; 5.96 ypc; 21 TDs.
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Wilson was sensational vs. Purdue, scoring four TDs and becom-ing the first Buckeye to do so since J.K. Dobbins in 2019 vs. Michigan; WR Noah Brown did so vs. Oklahoma (2016).
THE STAKES
- The Big Ten East won’t get decided this week. That will be next week in the state of Michigan when Ohio State and Michigan meet at noon in Ann Arbor and about three hours later Michigan State hosts Penn State.
THE COACHES
- This will be the first head-to-head meeting between Ryan Day– and Mel Tucker-coached teams. Last year at East Lansing, Day missed the game after a positive COVID-19 test the week of the game.
- Tucker’s ties with Ohio State are extensive and meaningful. He was on Jim Tressel’s Ohio State staff for four seasons, from 2001-04, and he helped the Buckeyes win the 2002 BCS national championship. He was the DBs coach from 2001-03 and the co-defensive coordinator in 2004.
THE SERIES
- Ohio State and Michigan State will be playing for the 50th time in series history on Saturday. The Buckeyes hold a 34-15 all-time advantage and have won each of the last five meetings, including a 52-12 decision last season in East Lansing.
- Ohio State has won 14 of the last 17 games between the teams since MSU won back-to-back games in 1998 and 1999.
- The game Saturday will be the 21st played between the two with both teams nationally ranked. Ohio State leads in these games, 14-6.
- Michigan State has defeated a Top 5 nationally-ranked Ohio State team five times, including defeating a No. 1-ranked Ohio State team three times: in 1974 (16-13), 1998 (28-24) and 2015 (17-14).
- One of the Spartan wins in that span, however, came on Nov. 21, 2015 when MSU defeated Ohio State, 17-14, at Ohio Stadium on a last-second field goal. It was the Buckeyes’ only blemish in a 12-1 season and cost the Buckeyes an opportunity to defend their CFP national championship from 2014.
THE SPARTANS
- The Spartans’ offense is powered by running back Kenneth Walker III, who leads the nation in rushing yards (1,473), yards per game (147.3) and rushing touchdowns (17).
- Walker, a transfer from Wake Forest, forms the centerpiece of an offense that is 23rd nationally in total yards (449.6) and 27th in rushing yards per game (197.8).
- Quarterback Payton Thorne is second in the conference – behind C.J. Stroud – in touchdown passes with 21. He’s completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 2,453 yards and has thrown eight interceptions.
- Thorne’s favorite target has been wide receiver Jayden Reed, who has 45 receptions for 829 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.
- The Spartan defense has been stout against the run, allowing an average of just 115.2 yards per game on the ground.
- Leading tackler Xavier Henderson has 82 stops on the season with two PBUs, one interception and one forced fumble.
- The Spartans started the season 8-0, highlighted by a 37-33 win over Michigan on Oct. 30, before rebounding from a loss to Purdue last week by topping Maryland, 40-21. Thorne threw four TD passes and Walker ran for 154 yards on 30 carries.
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