Game Data
* Date, Time: Sat., Oct. 15, noon (Eastern)
* Location: Ohio Stadium
* TV: ABC regional broadcast (announcers: Brent Musberger, Gary Danielson, Jack Arute).
Here is the ABC coverage map for Oct. 8:
ABC Coverage Map
* 2005 Records, Rankings: Ohio State, 3-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten, ranked 15th in Associated Press poll and USA Today coaches poll; Michigan State, 4-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten, ranked 16th in AP poll, 17th in USA Today coaches poll.
* Coaches: Ohio State, Jim Tressel (fifth year at OSU, 43-13; 20th year overall, 178-70-2; vs. Michigan State, 2-0); Michigan State, John L. Smith (third year at MSU, 17-13; 17th year overall, 127-73; vs. Ohio State, 0-2).
* Series History: Ohio State leads the all-time series 23-12, including 12-7 in Columbus. OSU has won three in a row – including 32-19 last year in East Lansing – and eight of the last 10.
* Michigan State Schedule: Sept. 3, Kent State, W 49-14; Sept. 10, Hawaii, W 42-14; Sept. 17, at Notre Dame, W 44-41 (OT); Sept. 24, at Illinois, W 61-14; Oct. 1, Michigan, L 34-31 (OT); Oct. 15, at Ohio State; Oct. 22, Northwestern; Oct. 29, Indiana; Nov. 5, at Purdue; Nov. 12, at Minnesota; Nov. 19, Penn State.
* Michigan State Key Players (2005 Stats): QB Drew Stanton (99 of 138 passing, 1,466 yards, 14 TDs, 3 INTs), RB Javon Ringer (51 carries, 404 yards, 4 TDs), RB Jehuu Caulcrick (58 carries, 355 yards, 4 TDs), RB Jason Teague (40 carries, 265 yards, 2 TDs), WR Kyle Brown (21 catches, 315 yards, 2 TDs), WR Matt Trannon (20 catches, 337 yards, 4 TDs), WLB David Herron (26 tackles, 3 sacks), SS Eric Smith ($3 tackles), BLB Sirdarean Adams (36 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 INTs).
* Michigan State Fast Facts: Location: East Lansing, Mich.; Enrollment, 44,542; Nickname, Spartans; Colors, Green and White; Stadium, Spartan Stadium (surface, grass; capacity, 72,027).
Depth Charts
Ohio State Offense
SE 4 Santonio Holmes, 5-11, 190, Jr.
8 Roy Hall, 6-3, 240, Jr.
LT 50 Doug Datish, 6-5, 295, Jr.
75 Alex Boone, 6-8, 315, Fr.
LG 77 Rob Sims, 6-4, 310, Sr.
59 John Conroy, 6-3, 295, Sr.
C 55 Nick Mangold, 6-4, 290, Sr.
50 Doug Datish, 6-5, 295, Jr.
RG 72 T.J. Downing, 6-5, 305, Jr.
59 John Conroy, 6-3, 295, Sr.
RT 74 Kirk Barton, 6-7, 325, So.
or 75 Alex Boone, 6-8, 315, Fr.
TE 80 Ryan Hamby, 6-5, 255, Sr.
87 Brandon Smith, 6-3, 240, R-Fr.
FL 7 Ted Ginn Jr., 6-0, 175, So.
5 Albert Dukes, 6-1, 190, R-Fr.
QB 10 Troy Smith, 6-1, 215, Jr.
12 Justin Zwick, 6-4, 225, Jr.
TB 25 Antonio Pittman, 5-11, 195, So.
43 Brandon Schnittker, 6-2, 250, Sr.
FB 89 Stan White Jr., 6-3, 242, Jr.
49 Dionte Johnson, 6-0, 250, So.
SL 11 Anthony Gonzalez, 6-0, 195, So.
85 Brian Robiskie, 6-3, 190, Fr.
K 23 Josh Huston, 6-1, 195, Sr.
85 Ryan Pretorius, 5-10, 190, R-Fr.
Ohio State Defense
DE 97 David Patterson, 6-3, 285, Jr.
99 Jay Richardson, 6-6, 276, Jr.
or 87 Lawrence Wilson, 6-6, 225, Fr.
DT 94 Marcus Green, 6-3, 290, Sr.
97 David Patterson, 6-3, 285, Jr.
DT 90 Quinn Pitcock, 6-3, 295, Jr.
98 Joel Penton, 6-5, 290, Jr.
DE 57 Mike Kudla, 6-3, 265, Sr.
50 Vernon Gholston, 6-4, 260, So.
or 78 Alex Barrow, 6-4, 255, R-Fr.
SLB 42 Bobby Carpenter, 6-3, 255, Sr.
33 James Laurinaitis, 6-3, 231, Fr.
MLB 51 Anthony Schlegel, 6-1, 251, Sr.
5 Mike D’Andrea, 6-3, 248, Jr.
WLB 47 A.J. Hawk, 6-1, 240, Sr.
52 John Kerr, 6-1, 246, Jr.
CB 26 Ashton Youboty, 6-1, 188, Jr.
2 Malcolm Jenkins, 6-1, 180, Fr.
FS 21 Nate Salley, 6-3, 220, Sr.
32 Brandon Mitchell, 6-3, 205, Jr.
SS 9 Donte Whitner, 5-11, 205, Jr.
3 Jamario O’Neal, 6-1, 180, Fr.
CB 6 Tyler Everett, 5-11, 202, Sr.
2 Malcolm Jenkins, 6-1, 180, Fr.
NB 2 Malcolm Jenkins, 6-1, 180, Fr.
34 Rob Harley, 6-2, 202, Sr.
P 15 A.J. Trapasso, 6-1, 220, R-Fr.
LS 68 Drew Norman, 6-0, 230, Jr.
Michigan State Offense
LT 72 Stefon Wheeler, 6-5, 330, Sr.
68 Tom Kaczmarek, 6-5, 308, R-Fr.
LG 74 Kyle Cook, 6-3, 295, Jr.
77 Daniel Zynn, 6-2, 321, Jr.
C 51 Chris Morris, 6-4, 305, Sr.
54 John Masters, 6-4, 280, So.
RG 71 Gordon Niebylski, 6-3, 212, Sr.
73 Roland Martin, 6-5, 318, R-Fr.
RT 66 Mike Gyetvai, 6-7, 307, So.
79 Jesse Miller, 6-6, 311, R-Fr.
TE 89 Ryan Woods, 6-4, 259, Sr.
80 Kellen Davis, 6-6, 241, So.
WR 6 Matt Trannon, 6-6, 227, Sr.
15 Kerry Reed, 6-2, 198, Jr.
WR 3 Kyle Brown, 6-1, 210, Sr.
2 Diego Oquendo, 5-9, 178, Fr.
QB 5 Drew Stanton, 6-3, 222, Jr.
7 Brian Hoyer, 6-2, 204, R-Fr.
TB 20 Jason Teague, 5-9, 193, Sr.
30 Jehuu Caulcrick, 6-0, 245, So.
or 39 Javon Ringer, 5-9, 195, Fr.
SL 32 Jerramy Scott, 5-10, 186, Jr.
18 Terry Love, 5-11, 173, So.
K 11 John Goss, 6-3, 218, Jr.
Michigan State Defense
RUSH 40 Michael Bazemore, 6-3, 270, Sr.
93 Nick Smith, 6-6, 265, So.
DT 96 Domata Peko, 6-2, 320, Sr.
70 Joe Toth, 6-2, 292, So.
DT 99 Brandon McKinney, 6-3, 320, Sr.
17 David Stanton, 6-3, 291, Jr.
STUD 92 Clifton Ryan, 6-2, 302, Jr.
95 Justin Kershaw, 6-4, 253, R-Fr.
WHIP 41 David Herron Jr., 6-1, 246, Jr.
52 Eric Andino, 6-4, 232, So.
MLB 43 Kaleb Thornhill, 6-1, 240, So.
49 Steve Juarez, 6-1, 225, Jr.
BAN 27 SirDarean Adams, 6-0, 222, So.
42 Rob Tabatchnick, 5-11, 209, So.
CB 12 Ashton Watson, 5-11, 189, Sr.
13 Travis Key, 5-10, 181, So.
FS 29 Greg Cooper, 5-11, 189, Jr.
28 Mike Bell, 5-11, 189, So.
SS 36 Eric Smith, 6-1, 202, Sr.
38 Cole Corey, 5-10, 194, So.
CB 9 Demond Williams, 5-9, 174, Jr.
31 Jaren Hayes, 5-9, 180, Sr.
P 8 Brandon Fields, 6-6, 230, Jr.
Breaking It Down
* When Ohio State Has The Ball: All eyes will be on the Ohio State offense to see if the Buckeyes can muster something, anything after the pitiful performance at Penn State. By following a 500-yard game against Iowa with the clunker at PSU, OSU is the walking, talking definition of inconsistent. The only silver lining is, other than Michigan at season’s end, OSU will not face another defense the caliber of Penn State’s.
That includes, of course, MSU, which is ranked eighth in the Big Ten in total offense. These were overtime games, but MSU gave up 41 points to Notre Dame and 34 to Michigan. So there is some hope that Ohio State can revert toward the form it showed against Iowa.
The feeling is that Troy Smith will get back on top of his game against MSU’s pass defense, which is ranked ninth in the Big Ten at 285.6 yards per game. It would also be neat to see Antonio Pittman have a chance to get close to the 100-yard mark again on the ground. The Buckeyes played one of their better offensive games in last year’s 32-19 win at East Lansing, a win keyed by three touchdowns from somebody named Ted Ginn Jr. Could he factor here (finally)? Hmmm.
* When Michigan State Has The Ball: This is the match-up everybody will be paying their hard-earned money to see. It pits OSU’s top-ranked Big Ten defense against MSU’s top-ranked offense. The Spartans, with Drew Stanton piloting the ship, have piled up the points (45.4 per game) and yards (566.4 per game).
The MSU defense will test Ohio State with its trio of talented running backs – speedy Javon Ringer, do-it-all Jason Teague and power back Jehuu Caulcrick. The Spartans will attack side-to-side and vertically with John L. Smith’s sophisticated passing attack. Receiver Matt Trannon, at 6-6, 227 pounds, will be a real load.
MSU has only surrendered five quarterback sacks in five games, meaning it will not be easy to get to Stanton. He missed last year’s game against Ohio State and certainly wants to make up for that by leading MSU to an important win here.
The OSU defense may play extremely well by holding Michigan State to a season-low 24 points. But will that be too much? Hmmm.
* How It Will Go: We will see two wounded teams on the field at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Michigan State failed miserably in its Oct. 1 bid to finally get revenge on hated rival Michigan. The Spartans also felt they had OSU beaten a year ago – until the Buckeyes struck for a pair of late touchdowns and pulled it out.
Likewise, OSU’s national championship hopes are but a memory after its loss at Penn State. Still, the Buckeyes can salvage a shot at the Big Ten championship if they can start piling up some victories. This game will gauge OSU’s pride, certainly. A slow start could lead to a quick 14-0 deficit – and a disastrous result.
It is my hunch, though, that Ohio State will pull it together. The Buckeyes are 9-3 after a regular season loss under Jim Tressel, including 4-1 when such games are played in the friendly confines of Ohio Stadium. There are too many talented and driven seniors on this team to let things slip any farther. I’ve got it: Ohio State 34-24
* For The Record: I am 3-2 straight-up and 2-3 against-the-spread with Ohio State. (As of Monday, OSU was listed as a 7-point favorite.)
-- Steve Helwagen