He's running into an avalanche. And when MSU sophomore Jaren Hayes lines up against Ohio State on Saturday, all odds are against him.

The Buckeyes are the top-ranked rushing defense in the country, with three seniors anchoring one of the most feared front lines ever.

With the combination of defensive end Will Smith and tackles Tim Anderson and Darrion Scott, the Buckeyes have allowed just 49.4 yards per game on the ground.

"It's huge; we're extremely proud of that, because only one team can have the honor of being the best," Anderson said.

But the front will face a new challenge when it meets the Spartans. Instead of working with the traditional grind-it-out Big Ten philosophy, MSU passes first and hopes that the run can sneak up on teams.

When the defense becomes too comfortable with the pass, the Spartans throw in a draw or delay rush, hoping to keep their opponents off guard.

"They don't have a great deal of rushing plays, but the ones that they do have are very well designed," Anderson said.

The key to the MSU offense is how the team can play against the blitz. Against a risk-taking Michigan team, the Spartans weren't sacked at all. The Wolverines had sacked Purdue seven times the week before.

"Most teams haven't been able (to get a sack)," senior quarterback Jeff Smoker said. "They'll probably drop into coverage and keep us throwing it."

But Ohio State has different ideas, because they've had success on defense this season, having 31 sacks, second only to MSU in the Big Ten.

"We have to be able to get pressure on Smoker," Anderson said. "It will definitely help stopping the run if we can slow down their pass.

"I think he does a great job of getting rid of the ball to his receivers, so our pressure has to start up front."

What the Spartans have done is bring in extra blockers to give Smoker extra time and run a three-step drop, releasing the ball quickly to neutralize any attack.

"We bring people down when they looked like they were blitzing," Smoker said. "We brought extra people in and held them off. We try and play them out of the blitz - talk them out of the blitz."

The problem will be establishing the run, even late in the game. But Hayes believes that success in the run game is all about a good start.

"We need to get a couple good runs to get our confidence up," Hayes said. "The pressure is off of us now that we have that loss in the Big Ten."

Hayes likely will be well-rested, because the Spartans will try to use all of their four-headed rushing attack at different points in the game. While Hayes is a shorter quick back, junior Tyrell Dortch adds a slashing style that helps him to find a hole and hit it, sophomore Jason Teague can help with the blocking and has breakaway speed and junior DeAndra Cobb might be the fastest player on this team.

"We always like to throw in a few runs here and there to keep defenses on their toes," Smoker said. "We're going to try to do that again this week, no matter how good they are. Sometimes you have an offense like we do, and you get some holes that other teams wouldn't."

One of the Spartans main concerns on offense will be keeping the ball away from Ohio State cornerback Chris Gamble, who is known for making big plays in big games. The spread offense can give the Spartans a chance to keep the ball away from Gamble by throwing underneath and dumping the ball to a running back if the coverage is too good. But Smoker says that he won't change his game plan Saturday because of the cornerback.

"Everybody has got their better corner and their weaker corner, and he's a great player - a heck of a player, but I'm not scared to throw at him," Smoker said. "I'll throw at him all day if I have to."

Staff writer Tina Reed contributed to this report.