Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Spartans can upset Ohio State

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Nov 12, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans celebrate a win against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights after a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan State football is facing off against No. 2 Ohio State and here is why the Spartans can pull off a huge upset.

Is it crazy to think Michigan State football can pull off the biggest upset of the 2016 season and beat No. 2 Ohio State in East Lansing? Maybe, but anything is possible. If Iowa can beat the ‘unbeatable’ Michigan Wolverines as three-touchdown underdogs, Michigan State can pull off this win.

Ohio State has shown that it’s beatable this year, losing on the road against a Penn State team that was struggling to find its identity. It also almost lost a home game to Northwestern and a road matchup, which went into overtime, against Wisconsin.

Michigan State will host the Buckeyes on Saturday and it could wind up being the biggest upset in this rivalry’s history since 1998 when the Spartans marched into Columbus and beat the Buckeyes when they were No. 1. That was one of my first memories of Michigan State football and definitely a game that can’t and won’t be forgotten.

Can the Spartans pull of a mammoth upset this weekend? Here are five reasons why that’s possible.

5. Spartans not void of talent

Michigan State is not void of talent, it’s pretty clear. The Spartans have young guys on this team who will be future All-Big Ten performers and there might be another playoff run coming within the next couple of years. The talent is there, but it just hasn’t performed up to expectations this season.

From top to bottom, Michigan State has talent at every position and the struggles have been more for a lack of experience and veteran leadership than anything.

On Saturday, we will see some of that talent break out such as Trishton Jackson, Donnie Corley, Justin Layne, Montae Nicholson, Andrew Dowell, Chris Frey, Raequan Williams, LJ Scott, Josh King and Mike Panasiuk, among many other young guys.

These young players want to send their senior mentors out with a bang on Senior Day.

Nov 12, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Madre London (28) celebrates a touchdown run against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half of a game at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

4. Budding confidence after first Big Ten win

Yes, I know it was against Rutgers, but the Spartans’ first Big Ten win of the season was in blowout fashion and may have been exactly what this team needed in terms of moving forward with the 2016 season.

Getting that winless monkey off their back was huge, but the Spartans need to prove that it meant something by giving the Buckeyes all they can handle on Saturday. Confidence can come from even the lowliest of victories and even though Rutgers is a glorified FCS team, the Spartans need to build on the progress they made.

Everyone seems to feel better, food tastes better and the skies are brighter after ending a long losing streak, and the team is starting to feel loose again. Ohio State is the exact opposite of Rutgers, though, but that just means the Spartans will be able to get up for this one easily.

After Michigan State lost to the Wolverines by just nine points a couple of weeks ago, some Spartan players admitted that it’s easier to get up for a game against a top rival that is ranked in the top-five than it is for, let’s say, Illinois or Maryland. That proved to be true the following week as MSU blew a late lead to the Fighting Illini.

Michigan State will need to play confident and aggressive again this weekend against the Buckeyes and start a win streak.

Nov 21, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Gerald Holmes (24) carries the ball as Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Raekwon McMillan (5) attempts the tackle in the second quarter at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

3. Poor weather conditions

Remember last year when Michigan State went in to Columbus on a cold, rainy afternoon and stole a win from the Buckeyes? The J.T. Barrett and Ezekiel Elliott shows were put on hold as the Buckeyes couldn’t get anything going. The weather helped the Spartans as it acted as a 12th defender, stymying a powerful offense.

Well, the same thing could happen this season in East Lansing. For some reason, the weather doesn’t like to cooperate when these two teams meet up, and this season’s poor weather would benefit the Spartans more than it did a season ago.

Michigan State has had a rough year and no one is giving the Spartans a shot to take down the mighty Buckeyes, but with an added element of poor weather, they can pull off an immense upset. If Barrett can’t pass the ball as much as he wants to and the Buckeyes have trouble getting traction on the ground, the Spartans might just steal another one.

Dantonio has to be telling his guys that the game plan is to stop the pass game completely and force the Buckeyes to keep everything on the ground. Containing Barrett will be important as well and if that can happen, the Spartans could win.

Heck, it might even snow on Saturday with temperatures in the low 30s.

Nov 12, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer signals to the official during the first quarter against the Maryland Terrapinsat Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

2. Trap game for Ohio State

This is the definition of a trap game. Michigan State comes in with a 3-7 record and Ohio State is 9-1 and looking to get to 10 wins with a shot to play Michigan for the Big Ten East title. The Buckeyes are the overwhelming favorites and it’s almost a forgone conclusion that they will wipe the floor with the Spartans.

Some trap games happen a couple of weeks before a big matchup on the schedule such as Michigan’s defeat last weekend at Iowa. The Wolverines may have been looking too far in the future toward Ohio State and everyone was hyping up a potential undefeated season.

While Michigan State hasn’t had the same type of season as Iowa and Ohio State might be a little more dangerous than Michigan, the Spartans could pull this one off just because the Buckeye players might be completely overlooking Dantonio’s team.

How dangerous can a 3-7 team with one Big Ten win over Rutgers truly be? Ohio State has been blowing out opponents in recent weeks such as Nebraska and Maryland both by 59 points.

One team is on fire and the other is coming into some newfound confidence. The Buckeyes have a big game against top rival Michigan next week. What is weighing on their mind more? This is a trap.

Nov 21, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Delton Williams (22) celebrates with a school flag after the Spartans

1. Michigan State has had Ohio State’s number

Over the past few years, Michigan State has had Ohio State’s number. The past five meeting have been closer than any in rivalry history and the Spartans have a 3-2 lead since 2011. The close, hard-fought games have been enough for CBS Sports to dub the MSU-OSU matchup the best modern rivalry in college football

Must Read: MSU Football: 5 bold predictions vs. Ohio State

Just one season ago, Michigan State marched into Columbus down a starting quarterback against the No. 3 team in the country and pulled off the unthinkable. The Spartans won on a last-second field goal and sent college football into a frenzy. That was the win that catapulted Michigan State into the playoff.

Moreover, since Urban Meyer has taken over, Mark Dantonio’s Spartans have split four games. The underdog has won each contest and that’s a good sign for this team. Michigan State has been giving the Buckeyes’ head coach nightmares dating back to that Big Ten title game in 2013.

There’s a reason this rivalry has been closer and more exciting than the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry over the past few years and it’s because Dantonio gets his guys up for this one.

It’s the final home game of the year and the Spartans are major underdogs. Time to shock the world.