Football beat writers Robert Bondy and Geoff Preston predict wins for MSU over Ohio State on Saturday.
Bondy's Bets
After getting a smack in the face by the College Football Playoff selection committee this week, MSU will have extra motivation to get this victory and it’ll pay off on Saturday.
Both MSU and Ohio State enter this week’s matchup riding six-game winning streaks and understand what’s at stake when they take the field. With that being said, both teams will come out flying, especially MSU playing in front of a wild home crowd at night.
The Spartans will feed off the crowd and take an early lead, but the lead won’t stick for long. Like last year’s Big Ten Championship Game, the momentum will swing and OSU will tie the game up in the third quarter, striking fear and doubt into the Spartan faithful.
However, junior quarterback Connor Cook will continue his incredible stretch and lead a pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter to regain the lead. Cook finishes the night with nearly 300 passing yards and throws a touchdown to his favorite target senior wide receiver Tony Lippett in the final minutes to seal the Spartan victory and crack the Buckeyes for a second straight year.
Preston's Pick
It’s the biggest game of the year for MSU, and for Ohio State, it is a chance at redemption and to prove that they belong in the playoff conversation.
For both teams it’s probably the last chance to show the playoff committee what they can do against good competition.
Ohio State is a team that has dominated opponents after an inexplicable early loss to Virginia Tech, but the quality of those opponents remind me of MSU’s basketball team playing The Master’s College.
Take a look at this stunning list of wins: Navy, Kent State, Cincinnati, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State and Illinois.
Impressed? Neither am I.
OSU hasn’t been challenged but it hasn’t always mattered, like against Virginia Tech. I know J.T. Barrett is vastly improved and the defensive line is incredible, but I think OSU is weak in the secondary.
Enter Connor Cook and Tony Lippett. While getting the ground game established will be important because the weather isn’t supposed to be awesome, I look for the Lippett-Cook combo to score a lot and for MSU’s defense to be MSU’s defense.
I think MSU comes out early, gets a big lead, the students leave, and OSU gets back into it a little bit. No one will remember this game as being as close as it will be.
