First half missed opportunities doom the Spartans as they fall to 3-2 and 1-1 in conference play
PREGAME
The Peacock crew interviewed OSU head coach Ryan Day prior to kickoff who said the Buckeyes “need to start fast and finish in the fourth quarter.” On the MSU side, it looks like Nick Marsh is going to play. It was reported earlier that Jaron Glover would be back in action. MSU won the toss and deferred.
FIRST QUARTER
Ohio State starts at their 25 after a Jonathan Kim touchback and comes out throwing. Angelo Grose makes a great play on a swing pass and drops OSU for a loss of 4 on the game’s first play but OSU moves quickly from there. The Buckeyes gain 29 yards on the second play on a Will Howard to Carnell Tate completion. Then a series of quick passes move the ball into the red zone. Howard has a short run to the MSU 6 but a personal foul on OSU pushes it back to the 21. The OSU drive stalls after the penalty and the Buckeyes settle for a field goal.
3-0 Ohio State
MSU takes a touchback and starts on the 25. Carter rips off a nice run off right tackle for 19 and then Chiles takes it up the middle for 8. An impressive rollout completion to Brennan Paracheck goes for 18 and MSU is moving. Momentum is stalled, however, when Chiles is sacked for a loss of 4 on the next play. MSU fights back to get to fourth and 1 and Jonathan Smith decides to go for it. When Smith is later interviewed during the break between the first and second quarter he says “we’re not going to win this game by kicking a bunch of field goals,” but Chiles goes nowhere with a sneak up the middle and MSU turns it over on downs. A field goal there obviously ties the game and allows MSU to hold serve with the #3 team in the country but instead a failed conversion leads to lost opportunity #1.
Ohio State takes over and converts a couple of the third downs to move into MSU territory. The second conversion was a nice Howard to Emeka Egbuka sideline throw where Angelo Grose had his back to the ball. OSU moves to the MSU 6 before the quarter ends.
3-0 Ohio State, end of first quarter
Between quarters, Mark Dantonio is honored on the field for his induction into the MSU Hall of Fame.
SECOND QUARTER
Ed Woods makes a nice pass break up at the goal line on 2nd and 3 and then Malik Spencer drops a sure interception in the end zone to force fourth and goal. Missed opportunity #2 for MSU. Ohio State goes for it on fourth down and Howard has plenty of time to throw. He finds the tight end Gee Scott in the end zone and the Buckeyes extend the lead.
10-0 Ohio State
MSU starts at the 25 again and Chiles finds Glover for 9. Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams goes up the middle for 5 and the first down. Then Chiles finds Glover again, this time for 24 to the OSU 36. Chiles looks great so far. Next, he hits Jack Velling in stride over the middle who crosses the 20 but Velling can’t protect the ball as an OSU defender strips it. The Buckeyes recover, and MSU’s third huge opportunity is lost.
Ohio State takes over and promptly gets a 19 yard run to the 37 for their first big gainer on the ground. MSU forces a third and four and gets pressure on Howard, who throws it right at two MSU defenders. Jordan Turner gets the pick and runs it back inside the 20. The MSU D gets the play they need!
MSU takes advantage of the sudden change and finds the end zone in one play – a well blocked screen pass to Glover. Despite the missed chances, MSU is in it!
10-7 Ohio State
Ohio State quickly regains momentum though. The Buckeyes take over and Howard goes to Jeremiah Smith for 20. Maverick Hansen went down with an injury on this play and couldn’t put any weight on his left leg leaving the field. I don’t think Hansen returned after this play. For the rest of the drive, the damage was done on the ground as OSU starts to find momentum in the running game. A holding call and a first and 20 does nothing to slow Ohio State down as Henderson goes for 37 yards. Quinshon Judkins gains 9 to get it to the red zone and then an end around to Smith goes for a touchdown.
17-7 Ohio State
After another touchback, Carter starts the next MSU drive with a nice cut to the outside but an even nicer tackle by Caleb Downs forces second and 10. Chiles misses Nick Marsh on the outside, his first incompletion of the night. It’s third and 10 for MSU but Chiles finds Aziah Johnson for a first down and MSU avoids a larger momentum swing by avoiding the need to punt. Chiles finds Marsh with a great out throw to the OSU 35. Lynch-Adams runs for 7 and then a Chiles to Marsh screen goes for a first down. Chiles smartly throws it away when nothing is there on first down and then Lynch-Adams POUNDS it for 7. MSU is poised to get back in the game but Chiles fumbles on a keeper trying to get the first down and OSU recovers. Opportunity number 4 is missed.
An OBVIOUS facemask to Chiles was also missed on this play. MSU should have had the ball with a first down deep in OSU territory but instead Ohio State takes over at their own 16.
On the second play of the drive, Jordan Turner appears to cause another turnover after an OSU screen pass but replay appears to show the OSU player’s forearm on the ground before the ball comes loose. OSU keeps the ball. The MSU defense holds though. On third and 3 a Howard keeper comes up just short. MSU forces the first punt of the night.
Montorie Foster fair catches it at his own 35. MSU has 1:48 to do something positive before halftime but goes 3 and out and Ryan Eckley comes on for his first punt. It’s not a typical Eckley bomb and Ohio State takes over at their own 40 with 1:13 to go.
Howard to Tate goes to the MSU 44 then an amazing one hand grab by Smith goes for 27 to get the ball into the red zone. MSU recovers to force third and 10 by pressuring and hitting Howard hard on second down and causing an incompletion. Backup Devin Brown comes in at quarterback for OSU. MSU brings pressure off the right edge but Brown finds Smith for another one hand grab that may have been more impressive than the first one. It goes for 17 yards and another OSU touchdown.
24-7 Ohio State
MSU has 29 seconds and comes out aggressively with Chiles looking to throw. He can’t find anyone open, starts to scramble, but then releases a pass beyond the line of scrimmage for a penalty and a ten second runoff. MSU takes a knee to regroup at halftime.
24-7 Ohio State at halftime
Ohio State has outgained MSU 319-186 and possessed the ball for nearly 18 minutes but MSU has had their chances and moved the ball. Chiles, in his most impressive half of football so far, has been accurate and disciplined but two red zone turnovers have put the Spartans in a very tough spot.
THIRD QUARTER
MSU gets the ball to start the second half and it feels like they need to do something to prevent the OSU floodgates from opening. The Spartans pick up a first down with a completion to Paracheck but then Lynch-Adams is dropped for a loss of four and MSU faces another uphill battle. Chiles throws behind Velling on second down and then is pressured on third down. He makes an impressive scramble out of it to pick up the first down but it’s negated by offsetting holding penalties. The penalty on MSU went against Lynch-Adams and it seemed questionable at best. Chiles floats one on third and long that is almost intercepted. MSU has to punt.
Howard is back in the game for OSU. The Buckeyes convert two fourth downs on their next drive. The first one is a fourth and 1 where Judkins gets just enough to keep the drive going. The second is a fourth and 5 at the MSU 33. Howard has plenty of time to throw and finds Egbuka for another touchdown.
31-7 Ohio State
Chiles starts the next MSU drive with a rope to Foster for 11 and a first down but two plays later he floats another one and this time it’s intercepted. Three plays later and OSU is in the end zone again on a nice fake and keeper by Howard.
38-7 Ohio State
Chiles is sacked for a loss of 8 to begin the next possession, leading to a 3 and out for MSU.
38-7 Ohio State, end of third quarter
FOURTH QUARTER
MSU punts to start the fourth quarter. It looks like a lot of empty seats interspersed with some OSU red among the remaining Green MSU faithful in Spartan Stadium.
With the game in hand, Brown is back in at quarterback for OSU, who moves for a couple first downs before punting back to MSU.
Tommy Shuster comes in as MSU concedes the game and also makes the switch to the backup quarterback. Three runs lead to a first down but then Shuster is sacked and can’t complete two pass attempts. MSU punts.
The teams mostly trade punts the rest of the way before MSU stops the Buckeyes on fourth down on their last drive of the game. After a few Shuster completions, the clock runs out on MSU to end their last drive and the game.
38-7 Ohio State FINAL
The score says otherwise, but it seems like this was different than the last decade of futility against Ohio State, at least in the first half when MSU looked like they belonged on the field with the Buckeyes. Chiles and the offense were moving and making plays. But, like last week, the Spartans couldn’t avoid mistakes and this week it prevented them from being in a much better situation at halftime. After MSU couldn’t move the ball on the first possession of the third quarter, it was all OSU and game over.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Spartans as they face the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Friday. Hopefully they can build on some of the positives from the first half tonight to create opportunities for themselves and then take advantage of them. They must to have any chance at Oregon.