In 2015, the last time Michigan State football beat Ohio State, kicker Michael Geiger drilled a 41-yard field goal into a screaming wind to give the No. 9 Spartans one of their biggest wins in program history.
After shocking the No. 3 Buckeyes on the road without their three-year starting quarterback, the Spartans won the Big Ten Championship and made the second-ever College Football Playoff.
Since that cold, windy night in November of 2015, a Buckeye beatdown of MSU has become an annual theme in the matchup that once decided the Big Ten season.
Ohio State has won eight straight matchups against the Spartans, outscoring them 320-77 in the process.
The closest MSU came to topping the Buckeyes after 2015 was the following season, when a three-win Spartan team was a two-point conversion away from upsetting the No. 2 team in the land. After that, Ohio State has beaten MSU by three or more possessions in each matchup.
Over the past five years, competitiveness in the series has been scarce. Still, college football is unpredictable and a major opportunity awaits MSU this Saturday.
MSU football is 3-1 after faltering late at Boston College in a sloppy environment last Saturday. The Spartans look to avoid back-to-back losses, but in their way stands the juggernaut Buckeyes under head coach Ryan Day, ranked No. 3 in the country.
At Spartan Stadium this season, MSU has played Florida Atlantic and Prairie View A&M, beating both. On Saturday under the lights, MSU will face the ultimate test.
"We respect everybody we play," MSU head coach Jonathan Smith said Monday. "Obviously, these guys demand some respect, and so we'll give them that with our work in preparation."
Like every game against Ohio State of the past decade, Saturday provides Spartan fans an early look at how Smith and MSU stack up against a college football giant like the Buckeyes. At Oregon State, Smith collected four wins against ranked opponents while competing with top ranked-programs USC, Washington and Oregon.
In Smith's first game as Oregon State's head coach in 2018, his Beavers were shredded by the fifth-ranked Buckeyes, 77-31.
On Saturday, the night when MSU's all-time winningest football coach Mark Dantonio in placed into the Spartans Ring of Honor, Smith and company will look to replicate the competitiveness Dantonio brought against Ohio State.
Besides a 40-0 shutout of PVAM, all of MSU's games have come within one possession. In four showings so far, the Spartans have established a resilient defense, one that ranks 14th in the nation. It showed against a schematically sound Boston College offense with red zone stops, holding BC under 300 yards, and containing shifty junior quarterback Thomas Castellanos' scrambling ability.
"This (defense) is a pleasant surprise," MSU defensive backs coach Blue Adams said Wednesday. "These guys are really resilient. They just won't quit, they won't give up, they’re gonna keep fighting. What more can you ask for as a defensive coach?"
Yet, while MSU's defense is one of the nation's best on paper, its offense has weighed it down at times. MSU is a bottom-five NCAA team in turnovers lost and 115th in penalties.
Against Boston College, timely turnovers held MSU back from a 4-0 start. Sixth year running back Kay'ron Lynch-Adams fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half and sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles threw three interceptions, the last of which came as the Spartans were driving down the field with under two minutes left.
"Three plays don’t define me," Chiles said after practice Tuesday. "But without the turnovers, without the misthrows, we probably win that game."
After Chiles' discouraging performance Saturday night, the 19-year-old quarterback is tied for the second-most interceptions thrown (7) in all of college football.
"I'm not discouraged," Chiles said. "I’m gonna come out and compete against anybody and everybody."
So far this season, the Buckeyes have yet to see a Power Four team, outscoring their opponents 157-20 in three games. Ohio State is ranked fifth in the nation in total offense and second in total defense.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
The odds are stacked against MSU Saturday night, but the Spartans aren't afraid of the challenge.
"You got to go out there and believe, because if you don't believe, you don't have a chance," MSU senior linebacker Cal Haladay said. "But I think the team's going to go out there and be confident in our preparation, hopefully go out there and execute at a very high level. And that's going to be the difference in the game."
The Spartans take on Ohio State Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium. The game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.
