Ohio State Football: Predictions for week 11 game vs. Michigan State

As usual we at Scarlet And Game will make our weekly predictions on the Ohio State football game as the Buckeyes take on the Michigan State Spartans.

The Ohio State football team is coming off another poor performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers but at least it was a win. Now it’s off to face the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing.

None of our picks last week were all that great but Thomas Scurlock’s was the closest so that pushed him into the lead with three wins this season.

Because of that Tom gets the honor of sharing his prediction first this week.

Tom:  Buckeye Nation keeps waiting for Ohio State to finally gel and put together a complete game. Will this be that week?

I question if a team can just flip a switch. Looking at the entire body of work, the Buckeyes have played just two teams with an offense in the Top 50 and the defense has continued to struggle.

There are reasons for the defensive downturn, the loss of Nick Bosa, injuries and scheme, but overall this unit is lacking a leader.

What about the offense? It has played just one team in the Top 50 rushing defense and the unit ranks No. 57 in rushing averaging 178.1 yards-per-game.

I realize some plays in the passing attack are really designed rushing plays, but until last week, the offensive surge in running ball has been lacking. Now they get the No. 1 defense against the run and No. 37 against the pass.

The good news is Michigan State’s offense is ranked No. 109 in scoring averaging just 23.4 points-per-game.

That is why the outcome will be determined by how well Ohio State’s defense plays.  Consider me a skeptic until proven wrong.

It has been a long time since I predicted a loss and it pains me to do it.  Michigan State wins 24-20.