COLUMBUS, Ohio — Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio said he heard a rumor that Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins could be a little slower now with his weight up to 215 pounds.
It proved to be just that — a rumor. He showed Michigan State's defense that first-hand.
With the fourth-ranked Buckeyes leading No. 25 Michigan State 17-10 with just over two minutes left in the first half, Dobbins quickly found a seam at the line of scrimmage and busted into the Spartan secondary, out of the grasp of Xavier Henderson and into open field.
He raced towards the end zone, almost getting chased down by cornerback Josiah Scott, but fended off his tackle attempt and gave the home team a 24-10 lead.
So, that rumor? Dantonio thinks the facts weren't checked enough.
"That's not verified," he joked after Michigan State's 34-10 loss to Ohio State.
Dobbins' 67-yard touchdown run was an intricate part in a huge second quarter for the Buckeyes to help them spring to a 34-10 win after a tightly-played first quarter.
Michigan State's defense held OSU's offense to three points in the first quarter, despite two fumbles in four plays by the Spartan offense. The Buckeyes, however, couldn't capitalize on the early MSU mistakes and gained only 16 yards on 16 offensive plays in the first quarter.
That was entirely different from the 296 yards and 24 points that the Buckeyes scored in the second quarter.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the second quarter," senior linebacker Joe Bachie said. "Gave up explosive play after explosive play on back-to-back drives. That one long pass they had off a little roll out, then the quarterback run. Explosive plays happen. Gives them a chance to score. Once that happened, they got 24 in the second quarter. It was tough to come back from that.”
Ohio State took a 10-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the half when sophomore quarterback Justin Fields found Binjimen Victor all alone in the secondary for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Dantonio said following the game that it was a play that the Spartans had worked on, but Victor ran the route a little bit differently than MSU had anticipated.
Michigan State's offense recovered from their slow start and finished a five-play, 75-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown strike from Brian Lewerke to Darrell Stewart Jr. to cut the score to 10-7. But, the Buckeyes went down the field rather easily on their next possession, thanks in part to a 35-yard run down the sideline by Fields, who connected with tight end Luke Farrell for a 21-yard touchdown to put Ohio State up 17-10.
The Spartans missed an opportunity to get in the end zone on their ensuing possession, having to settle for a 39-yard Matt Coghlin field goal instead, and the Buckeyes — specifically Dobbins — made them pay with his 67-yard touchdown run.
Ohio State then added a 43-yard field goal from Blake Haubeil to give it an insurmountable a 27-10 halftime lead.
“The first three drives we got off the field, we did a great job first quarter," Bachie said. "The next drive they come out, do a little half-roll pass, throw a bump-and-go, get our guy out of coverage, he sucks up, 50-yard gain or whatever. So that was nothing special, just a pitch and catch. Next drive happens, there’s a QB scramble. We had confusion of cover-one and our other coverage. So, the dude was just open in the step-up lane. I mean, we busted. Simple as that. We shot ourselves in the foot.”
Dobbins led the Buckeyes with 172 yards on 24 carries, 112 of which came on his 10 second-quarter rushing attempts.
When Michigan State has had success against the Buckeyes in years prior, it came with shutting down the run. According to Dantonio, MSU's inability to do that Saturday night greatly hurt the Spartan defense.
"They had too many explosive plays, and what we’ve been able to do when we have won, is they haven’t had quite the number of explosive plays. We gotta keep them in the teens or in the twenties," he said. "We gotta play well defensively as well. We just got done too little, too late, I guess.”
Fields, who finished 17-for-25 for 206 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, compiled 133 yards through the air in the second quarter alone.
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"We felt good about ourselves going into that second quarter," junior linebacker Antjuan Simmons said. "They just made a play, made another play, made another play. So, we gotta fix that ... and just keep playing ball. Keep fighting through the game and not give up.”
The Spartans somewhat rebounded, giving up only 212 yards and one touchdown in the third and fourth quarters, but by then the damage was done. The hole MSU got itself into in the second quarter was too much of a climb to get out of.
"Too many big plays," Dantonio said. "Too many big plays, and too many missed opportunities."
