Ohio State football nearly botches dress rehearsal for Michigan State, barely escapes at Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania – Turn the white to green. Take out about 30,000 people, but figure loud is going to be loud. Then make the offensive line better, the quarterback more experienced, the receivers and running back more dangerous and the defense more talented. But keep it in primetime under the lights. That’s what Michigan State will be in two weeks. And everything that happened at Penn State on Saturday night was the dress rehearsal for the show the Ohio State Buckeyes have been waiting to put on all season. It’s obvious now what wasn’t obvious for the previous month: There’s a lot of work for the Buckeyes to do before confident Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio raises the curtain at Spartan Stadium on Nov. 8. Ohio State’s 31-24 double-overtime win at Penn State was at times dominant early, yet conservative, confusing and nerve-wracking for any OSU fans expecting a blowout. The Spartans, heading into an off week before the Ohio State game, are riding high after taking down Michigan on Saturday. The Buckeyes are in a different place. After scoring 50 points in four straight games against Cincinnati, Kent State, Maryland and Rutgers, the Buckeyes went on the road against a defense with a chance and found life to be very different. …

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