Ohio State football faces new kind of challenge

Home is where the heart is. That’s been the case for the Ohio State football team in the first five weeks of the season. Every game has been at home up until now. The confines of the Shoe have been friendly to them too as they have won every game thus far by double-digits.

Now comes a new kind of challenge. The Buckeyes head on the road for the first time this season and face a team that has had a penchant for breaking up Ohio State’s perfect seasons. Michigan State stopped the Buckeyes’ road to the national title in both 2013 and 2015.

While this year’s Michigan State team isn’t as formidable as those teams, they still pose a unique challenge. The Spartans typically play in front of a pretty good crowd. This Ohio State football team hasn’t had to deal with that yet this season.

I don’t think the offense will have any issues dealing with the environment since most of them have experience dealing with it from last year. They are also the most unstoppable offense in the country right now. Even when one aspect of their offense doesn’t work, they just use the other one.

I’m extremely curious to see how the defense responds. Jim Knowles has done an excellent job with this unit already, turning it into a legitimately good defense. Now I want to see how they are able to play when the crowd isn’t giving them some extra juice.

Michigan State’s offense has been really bad in the last two games, scoring only 20 combined points against both Minnesota and Maryland. The Buckeyes should be able to deal with that as long as they can stay focused. Mental errors can hurt them in this game.

I expect the Buckeyes to beat Michigan State without too many problems, but playing on the road for the first time this deep into the season is still pretty unique. I want to make sure they have the focus needed to get the job done.