The Buckeyes, however, come into Spartan Stadium streaking after defeating the then-No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Maryland Terrapins both by a score of 62-3 in the past two weeks. The road team in this matchup has won every time since 2008, with the exception occurring on the neutral Big Ten Championship field where MSU won in 2013.

MSU comes in more confident, finally snapping a seven-game losing streak last weekend against Rutgers. It might have been what the team needed to get back to a more competitive side of playing, but they have a tough task with Ohio State up next.

Here are some takeaways from Dantonio’s comments regarding the week ahead for his team and a highly anticipated matchup with the Buckeyes.

1. Spartan spoilers

With Ohio State, Penn State and University of Michigan sitting tied atop the Big Ten East standings, the Spartans have a chance to be a spoiler of sorts for two of those clubs with Ohio State and Penn State remaining on their schedule.

Dantonio is familiar with the situation and brought up a fond memory of a previous coaching experience he had at MSU under Nick Saban.

“I was on another football team in 1998 that didn't play a bowl game here and we went down and played the number one team in Ohio, at Ohio Stadium, at Ohio State, and won,” Dantonio, who was a secondary coach of that team, said. “Didn't go to a bowl game that year, but everybody seems to remember it, so, I guess that's something. But, I think the biggest thing is, is playing the next game and always getting ready for your next challenge, and that's this one, and it's a big, big challenge that we have standing in front of us.”

Dantonio now heads up a team with a similar opportunity in front of them. A win could eliminate Ohio State from the College Football Playoff and Big Ten title race, or at the very least, make things very interesting.

2. Seniors in the spotlight

Saturday will mark the final home game for all of the seniors on this year’s roster, including the three captains –– quarterback Tyler O’Connor, defensive back Demetrious Cox and linebacker Riley Bullough –– and other key players like cornerback Darian Hicks, wide receiver R.J. Shelton and tight end Josiah Price.

Although the season has been disappointing, Dantonio said he respects his senior class for coming out and competing every week. In addition, he mentioned that this group of seniors has accomplished a lot since being at MSU, including a Rose Bowl win and College Football Playoff appearance.

“I know it's been a disappointing year, I know it's, in a lot of ways, you can look back and say we should have won this game, that game, this game, that game, but we are just sort of where we're at,” Dantonio said. “We have to deal with that and hopefully this period of time in their life helps strengthen them for later disappointments in their life where they have challenges in their life and have to be able to go through them in order to come out the back end.”

Dantonio is 7-2 on senior day with the only losses coming in 2009 and 2012.

3. Malik a question mark

Junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell missed last week’s blowout victory over Rutgers, and now finds himself absent on the depth chart for MSU. Though Dantonio wouldn't specify his injury, he did offer up reasoning behind his absence.

“Right now, he's probably -— he's out, but we'll see,” Dantonio said. “I don't want to list him as number two, he's not a number two, but, I just didn't know how to list him based on last week, he was out. So that's why we listed him as such. So, he'll either start for us or be able to play. We'll see as the week goes.”

With McDowell out of action against the Scarlet Knights, true freshmen Mike Panasiuk and Josh King both started on the defensive line. This week lists King and Panasiuk in addition to redshirt-freshman Raequan Williams and sophomore Robert Bowers. The young front will have their work cut out for them against an Ohio State offensive line that boasts the same starting unit since week one of the season.

“You've got to learn fast,” Dantonio said. “Those guys are getting to the point in their season where they're not young freshman at least anymore, they're a little bit more experienced, and I think they grow each week, and they've got athletic ability.”

4. Offensive line shuffling yet again

With yet another injury for MSU –– this time a broken ankle to redshirt-freshman guard Tyler Higby –– the offensive line shuffles yet again. The main change is sixth-year senior Brandon Clemons, who has been playing pretty exclusively at defensive tackle the past few weeks, shifts back over to the offensive line at right guard.

“He's been a guy that played in a lot of football games for us, and he's started in games for us offensively and defensively,” Dantonio said of Clemons. “So you take a guy like that, who has been extremely valuable and really has been totally unselfish in the way he's gone about his business.”

Junior Brian Allen, who started the past two weeks at right guard, moves over to left guard next to redshirt-freshman Cole Chewins. Benny McGowan remains at center and Kodi Kieler, despite injuries, holds down the right tackle spot.