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Three keys to an Ohio State football victory over Michigan State

The Ohio State football team has its first Big Ten game this weekend against Michigan State. Here's what they need to do in order to avoid an upset.

By Ryan Stano

Sep 7, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer (33) pursues Western Michigan Broncos quarterback Hayden Wolff (11) during the first half of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium.
Sep 7, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer (33) pursues Western Michigan Broncos quarterback Hayden Wolff (11) during the first half of the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
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3. The Ohio State football team needs to be squeaky clean on special teams

Ryan Day decided to fire Parker Fleming in the offseason. That left the Buckeyes without a special teams coordinator. That's perfectly fine since plenty of schools don't employ a full-time special teams coordinator. Most schools just use multiple coaches to help coach that unit.

Fleming didn't make the special teams anything special. They weren't in the top 20 in any special teams category. Somehow, the special teams have been worse this season. That was magnified last weekend against Marshall when the special teams were a disaster.

Brandon Inniss muffed a punt to put the Thundering Herd inside the Ohio State 10-yard line. He was lucky that the play was nullified due to an illegal procedure penalty by Marshall. Otherwise, they would have been knocking on the door for a touchdown in the first half.

Jayden Fielding also kicked the ball out of bounds three straight times on kickoffs. That's something that is absolutely unacceptable. It was something that got him benched. He claims he suffered an injury and that's why it happened, but I'm not sure I buy that.

Ohio State needs to be clean on special teams in this game. They can't afford these kinds of mistakes against an opponent that has a history of upsetting them. The Buckeyes need to keep the ball in bounds on kickoffs and field punts clean. Making all of their field goal attempts would be nice too.

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If the Ohio State football team can do all of these things, they should be 4-0 when they leave East Lansing on Saturday night.

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