Ohio State, the national powerhouse that has multiple College Football Playoff appearances, is battling to meet the criteria for qualifying for the Big Ten Championship against the winner of the Big Ten's West division.

MSU is 2-3, coming off a win against a then-No. 8 Northwestern team in dramatic fashion as the Spartans ran for almost 200 yards and won on the leg of kicker Matt Coghlin.

This week, Dandron spoke with Maisano to get more insight into the Buckeyes ahead of Saturday's game.

Q: Saturday, if it's canceled then Ohio State would need more games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship. Even if they don't make the Big Ten title game, do you think they are a playoff team?

A: I think it's hard to say, and I think this is a unique year to where I think they're valuing the eye test more than anything. I think Ohio State need's another data point or two, regardless if that's in the Big Ten Championship game or not. Even if they could play Michigan State, I would say at this point the Michigan State game is more likely than the Michigan game. They would have to play a Wisconsin that extra week instead of in the Big Ten Championship against Northwestern.

I think getting a Michigan State and then a Wisconsin game in would look impressive. I think an area they have to clean up for the committee is their secondary. Last time (the playoff committee) they saw Ohio State it was getting torched for nearly 500 yards so I think its more of a thing with Ohio State not accumulating the hardware in the Big Ten Championship game ... but instead being a complete team on the field and showing an improvement.

Q: You bring up the secondary. They've got talent, but it just hasn't come together. When you look at Ohio State's secondary, what does it need to do against MSU to be in the right spots and get it done?

A: The Defensive Coordinator and Secondary Coach Kerry Combs talked about this a little bit following the Indiana game. He was talking about, that they are in the right spots but he feels like it's partially coaching, it's partially how you're playing and the execution of the game plan. ... Shaun Wade had a similar thing after the Penn State game, saying how he's been struggling by going for interceptions instead of trying to make the right play.

I think that there is a concern from the outside being more like the 2018 defense than the 2019 defense, in 2018 Ohio State gave up 25 points a game and would get diced against almost every team. I think that there's a quiet confidence with Ohio State, within the walls, that they believe there is a lot of correctable mistakes. So, I think that this will be a very telling game against Michigan State.

Q: Northwestern struggled against an MSU defense that has been better. What does Ohio State need to do on offense that you haven't really seen in recent weeks?

A: One area that was almost promising in the Indiana game that you probably haven't really seen prior to that is the breakout of Master Teague III. He topped 100 yards in that game. He did it once before in the season, but it wasn't as pretty as it was against Indiana and I think that will relieve some pressure from (Justin) Fields. They had been rushing for about 200 yards, above 200 yards before but it was kind of like this guys get 50 ... (and) when you have a guy that can be trying to step into that J.K. Dobbins role a little bit more that gives the defense something else to think about.

So, I think that would be a key factor and then just the pass protection. Indiana brought pressure all the time, was getting to Fields, hitting him. Ohio State, as good as they are, as talented as they are, that team runs through Fields and if he's getting hit a lot ... at the end of last year he wasn't healthy and that really impacted how far they could go.

They really do rely on that passing game and they rely on (Fields) a lot.

Q: What is your prediction for Saturday, and how's it going to happen?

A: I think a key factor for this game could also lie Friday morning with the status report. Now they may delay it till Saturday morning, which was their plan before they played Illinois before they canceled that game. But depending on who they're missing and we still don't know because they won't reveal names. And you'll see some players show up on that status report if Fields is out, you're (then) missing a key contributor.

Michigan State, you kind of don't know what you're going to get, as far as posing an upset (threat) to Ohio State. But I think Ohio State has had a long time to sit and think on an Indiana game where they had the potential to blow out a top-10 team in an impressive win. Even though they beat a top-10 team it kind of felt almost like a loss for Ohio State. So, I think they have a bounce-back game. ... I would say, right now where I sit, depending on if Fields plays I think Ohio State wins the game 45-17 right now.