Spartans Wire: What Michigan State fans are saying about Ohio State

Ohio State: The big scary dragon of the Big Ten

From Andrew Brewster of Spartans Wire

If you need to contextualize the ‘rivalry’ between Michigan State and Ohio State on the football field, it can be summed up in the fact that the two wins Mark Dantonio was able to edge out against Ohio State are considered to be two of the best of his career.

In fact, it’s so hard to beat OSU that MSU fans will actually use their two wins in the last decade over the Buckeyes as a bragging point over Michigan, who has only beaten OSU once in that time, hilariously. I think there was a point during the Dantonio era when the Spartans took home wins in 2 out of 4 games against the Buckeyes that fans hoped that OSU would become more of the team’s primary rival, but, alas, that ship sailed pretty quickly.

However, it’s always been a point of pride that Michigan State is able to even compete and at least scare the Buckeyes from time to time considering the obvious difference in recruiting talent that comes through the schools. Whereas Michigan is able to get more 5-stars, MSU is usually moreso playing with under-recruited 3-star players so it’s kind of amazing that the Spartans seem to put a more competitive team on the field against the Buckeyes than that team in Ann Arbor, which is a major point of pride in East Lansing.

In terms of this season, I think most fans already scratched this game off as a loss from day one. Justin Fields is one of the best college quarterbacks I have ever seen and the talent around the field is just ridiculous. There are players on the bench for the Buckeyes who would start on any team in the country, it’s daunting. It really does always feel like Ohio State is this scary beast (hence my dragon analogy) down in Ohio and it is only under rare, heroic, almost mystical circumstances that the Spartans are able to pull out a win.

The one glimmer of hope this year for MSU is around COVID-19, unfortunately, which is no way to find a competitive edge in a football game. If the Buckeyes are severely short-handed, MSU might have an outside shot. The Spartans looked pretty strong against a top ten team last week so I don’t think they will be a pushover if OSU is missing a lot of starters. However, as I mentioned, the guys on the bench for OSU alone could create a top team in the Big Ten so it’s definitely a long shot. I think MSU fans would be quite happy with a close, competitive, hard-fought game, no matter the outcome.