To get to know this year's Buckeyes better, The State News talked to OSU football beat reporter and assistant sports editor Wyatt Crosher of The Lantern — OSU's student newspaper.

Editor's note: This story was lightly edited for clarification purposes.

Q: First off, Ohio State's offense is the best in the Big Ten, and ranked fifth in the nation in yards per game (547.2) 10th in the nation in points per game (42.2). What makes this offense go, and how are they so explosive?

A: So, up until last week, the answer way pretty much one guy, and that's quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The dude has just been having one of the best years an Ohio State quarterback has ever had (3,053 passing yards, 32 touchdowns with a 69.7 completion percentage). He had three straight games with 400-plus yards. He's just been hitting it on all cylinders. And then last week, they kind of turned a corner a little bit, because that run game has been pretty stagnant for a lot of games. Then running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber both erupted last week against Nebraska (Dobbins ran 23 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Weber, nine times for 61 yards) — kind of the only reason they won. So, most of the season, it's just been Haskins having almost Heisman numbers, if Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn't exist. But last week, Haskins went a little back — he had 252 yards for two touchdowns and an interception. But overall, it's been Haskins.

Q: How has Haskins been so explosive? How has he had a Heisman-caliber season, one of the best seasons in Ohio State football history?

A: So obviously, former quarterback J.T. Barrett is one of the best in a much different way. With Haskins, it's just strictly with his arm. He's not ran much at all this year (45 rushes for 54 yards and a touchdown). So because of that, he's just way more accurate than any Ohio State quarterback has been in recent years. It's also the veteran receiving core he's gotten back — everyone came back from the year before. So, you have K.J. Hill having a terrific year (51 receptions for 695 yards and four touchdowns), Parris Campbell (56 receptions for 631 yards and eight touchdowns) getting open in open space is very dominant, even Terry McLaurin (21 receptions for 398 yards and eight touchdowns) and Binjimen Victor (15 receptions for 246 yards and three touchdowns) has had some great plays. This receiving core that last year was sort of considered lackluster, has found some more life under Haskins because of this extra year they've had to play with each other, and Haskins just being significantly more accurate than other quarterbacks in the past.

Q: Ohio State is No. 10 in the nation scoring, but looking at the red-zone rankings, Ohio State's 13th in the Big Ten and 116th in the nation. So, what's going on there? 

A: That's arguably what you could say is what cost them against Purdue. I think they went down there five times and didn't score a touchdown once. I mean, for a while it was that lack of a run game. It was very one-dimensional, and relied a lot of Haskins trying to find that space in the red zone and it just wasn't working. And it's cost them a ton of points. And then against Nebraska, it was a little better. Haskins did throw a pick in there once, but besides that they were giving Dobbins and Weber space. They were finding these little passes to Parris Campbell, who scored once. So, I think just getting that run game going will help Haskins find open space, help the running backs obviously get open space from that. But, before it was just a lot of struggles with just using passing to try and get in the end zone, especially that close.

Q: Then defensive end Nick Bosa, obviously not coming back for the rest of the season after suffering a core injury against TCU on Sept. 15 and preparing for the NFL. So, how has this defense changed since his injury?

A: Nick Bosa was obviously one of the best defensive players in college football, arguably the best. Since he's been gone, the pass rush hasn't looked the same. Against Penn State, defensive end Chase Young really looked great (22 total tackles this season including 7 for loss, along with 6 sacks and four pass breakups) and defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones has had a pretty good year (28 total tackles including a team-high 8 for loss, team-high 7 sacks, an interception, two fumbles recoveries and one forced). But, the defense has not had the same level of ability to get to the quarterback has it has since then. That's not only on the defensive line. The secondary has had some issues in recent games, especially against Purdue when they lost. But, ever since Nick Bosa has been gone, Chase Young hasn't found the space that he's had before, Dre'Mont Jones has had to deal with more double coverage than before and then defensive lineman Robert Landers (12 total tackles including two for loss) as well has been a little less existent. So, I think just losing a guy like that, you have less space, because he was taking two guys on at once often in his short time this season. So, the defensive line is OK, probably the best part of the defense still, but not the same as with when Bosa was there.

Q: Looking on both the offensive and defensive side, who's a player or two on each side people should look out for that aren't Dwayne Haskins or J.K. Dobbins?

A: I would say, looking at receivers, one of the guys that don't pop off the page number wise is Terry McLaurin, just because he does a lot of blocking that's very impressive. He makes a lot of space for players like K.J. Hill and Parris Campbell. He'll catch a few here and there, and he's gotten a lot of touchdowns doing so. But, he's a guy who makes a difference off the ball a lot that won't show up in the numbers, and he'll make a lot of plays.

On defense, last week it was safety Brendon White. He came in for starting safety Jordan Fuller after he got out for targeting, and he came in and got 13 tackles (including two for loss) in two and a half quarters. So, I guarantee he'll get time at safety against Michigan State. He looked terrific. And that's been a position that's struggled all year. Isaiah Pryor hasn't really lived up to what they expected from him. So, I think Brendon White is definitely a guy to look for to make a big difference against Michigan State.

Q: Score prediction, who wins and why?

A: I'll go with the score I said Wednesday — I'm not all that solid on it — but I said Ohio State 23-20 over Michigan State. I think it's going to be a pretty scrappy game. I could easily see Michigan State pulling it out. I'm not confident in that pick, because Ohio State has not looked like a top team at all. I think that rush defense can really cause problems if Dobbins and Weber can't get it going. But, I just don't trust Michigan State's offense from what I've seen, to make those plays enough to beat Ohio State. But, I think it could go either way. If Lewerke can get something going, I think they have a great chance to pull off the upset. But, I just don't know if he can.

Q: Anything else you'd like to add?

I mean Ohio State's slumping at the right time for Michigan State to pull it off. They looked awful against Nebraska. If it was any other team except Nebraska, they'd have two losses right now. So, I'm very curious to see how this game goes more than any game this year. I really have no clue.