The Series

This will be the 41st game between these two schools, with Ohio State leading the series 27-13. OSU leads 13-5 for games played in East Lansing, but OSU has not played their since 2008. Michigan State's last win against OSU in East Lansing was 1999.

Last Time
OSU lost last year in Columbus against Michigan State, with a score of 10-7. Michigan State used a blitz heavy defense and as a result OSU only had 178 yards. The running game struggled all night, and 39 attempts resulted in a net of 35 yards, which takes into account the multiple negative yardage runs and the nine sacks of the OSU QBs. Miller was 5 of 10 and Bauserman was 7 of 14 for a combined 143 passing yards, with 33 of those yards on the only touchdown pass by OSU, in the last ten seconds of the game. Michigan State scored its only touchdown on a first quarter drive. In the second quarter, MSU QB Kirk Cousins fumbled the ball and Jonathan "Big" Hank recovered the ball. Early in the fourth quarter, Michigan State threw an interception in the endzone, but Ohio State was unable to score on its possession after the turnover. Michigan State extended the lead to 10-0 with a 50 yard field goal. Later in the fourth quarter cornerback Bradley Roby intercepted Kirk Cousins, but again Ohio State did not score. OSU avoided the shutout with a late fourth quarter pass from Bauserman to Evan Spencer, making the score 10-7. Drew Basil had an excellent attempt at an onside kick, and two Ohio State players appeared to grab the ball, but Michigan State recovered the kickoff and ran out the clock. It was a costly attempt at an onside kick, with OSU receiver Verlon Reed tearing his ACL from a hit placed by a tight end on the MSU special teams. The OSU defense limited Michigan State to 71 rushing yards and 250 passing yards.