There are fewer tests bigger for a first-year head coach than taking on a reigning division champion in a conference season opener. Yet Urban Meyer and Ohio State took that challenge on and won on Saturday.
Ohio State’s 17-16 win at Michigan State served notice to the rest of the Big Ten that the Buckeyes are ready to compete with anyone and everyone right now, and it’s going to be a major challenge for anyone to knock OSU from the ranks of the undefeated.
So, how’d it happen? How did Ohio State pull off this big win?
We’ll talk about this more later today, but Michigan State’s biggest loss of the day wasn’t what shows up in the loss column—it was center Travis Jackson going out with a broken leg and torn MCL. He’s done for the year, and we hope he returns healthy in 2013, because that is a brutal injury.
Even so—and even before Jackson went out—Ohio absolutely manhandled Michigan State’s offensive line, and that was crucial to victory.
Michigan State has Le’Veon Bell in the backfield, and Bell is a prototypical “workhorse” Big Ten back. He’s the type that works in tandem with a strong offensive line to wear down a defense over the course of a game, and he keeps the chains moving by falling forward against smaller defenders. Ask Boise State how fun and easy it is to keep Bell in check for 60 minutes.
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football
