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WATCH: Fox Sports analyst discusses Ohio State’s issues ahead of MSU week

Tyler Waddell

By Tyler Waddell

Published:

Through nine games, Ohio State (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) ranks 45th in scoring defense (23.8 ppg), 68th in total defense (397.3 ypg), 82nd in yards per play allowed (5.82), and 91st in explosive plays of 20-plus yards allowed (46). Those are extremely concerning stats for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes as they enter the most difficult stretch of their schedule, facing road games against Michigan State (6-3) and Maryland (5-4) before hosting Michigan (8-1) in the regular season finale.

Ohio State got off to a hot start in 2018, outscoring opponents by 151 points through the first five games of the season. However, since then, it has shown its vulnerability, having a difficult time in closer-than-anticipated wins against Indiana and Minnesota, and then getting blown out in shocking fashion at Purdue. The Buckeyes were off last week and had time to refocus and fix some of the minor issues, but once again struggled against a lesser-talented opponent, holding off a two-win Nebraska team 36-31 in Columbus yesterday afternoon.

If OSU plays like it has been the last few weeks when it travels to East Lansing this weekend, it’s likely it will leave with its second loss of the year. According to Fox Sports analyst and former Ohio State running back Robert Smith, the Buckeyes have a lot of cleaning up to do before taking on the Spartans:

Ohio State-Michigan State will kickoff this Saturday at noon EST and can be viewed on FOX.

Tyler Waddell

Tyler has covered college football on a freelance basis since 2010. In addition to Saturday Football, his work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, Cox Media Group, Athlon Sports, and more.