THE RUNNING START

When: Saturday, November 11, 2017
Where: Ohio Stadium
TV: Noon, FOX 
Announcers: Joe Davis, Brady Quinn and Bruce Feldman

This is the 46th time Ohio State and Michigan State will play each other in football. The Buckeyes are 30–15 all-time against the Spartans. Mark Dantonio's team enters this contest with a 7–2 record in 2017. 

Below you will find some interesting facts about the teams, key offensive player stats, coach information, and team stats.

THE LAST TIME...

• Ohio State played Michigan State, the Buckeyes won 17-16 in 2016.
• The Buckeyes played the Spartans in Columbus, Michigan State won 17-14 in 2015.
• An Urban Meyer Ohio State team faced a ranked Michigan State team was 2015.
• The Buckeyes defeated the Spartans in an odd numbered year was 2007.
• The Buckeyes lost the tenth game of the season was 2011, against Purdue.

ON THE HORIZON​

• J.K. Dobbins is 86 yards away from gaining 1,000 yards for the season.
• J.T. Barrett is 54 yards away from passing Minnesota's Adam Weber for second place on the Big Ten's total yards list. He is 955 yards away from passing Drew Brees.
• Billy Price will start for the 51st consecutive time. That will break his tie with Luke Fickell (1993-1996) for the longest streak in program history.
• Barrett is tied with Joe Germaine with eight 300-yard passing games. He is one 300-yard game from holding the outright record.
• Since 2012, Ohio State is 20–1 when playing at home against Big Ten opponents. 
• This is the 204th game in Urban Meyer's career. Among active coaches, he has the highest winning percentage (.847) and is ranked third in the history of Division I history.
• Since 1890, the Buckeyes are 51–7–3 (.861) in the tenth game of the season and 31–3–1 (.900) at home. 
• Ohio State is 5–0 when ranked and facing a ranked Big Ten opponent at home in game 10. 2005 was the last time this scenario occurred and the tenth ranked Buckeyes defeated No. 25 Northwestern 48-7.

Michigan State University

GET TO KNOW MICHIGAN STATE

• Michigan State University is located in East Lansing, MI.
• The university was established in 1855. 
• The Spartans are 7–2 this season.
• Michigan State is 39–19 (.672) since 2012.
• Mark Dantonio's team beat Penn State 27-24 last week.
• Since joining the Big Ten, the Spartans are 266–213–9 (.554) against conference opponents.

​TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:

1. How many Big Ten teams have defeated Ohio State teams coached by Urban Meyer twice?
2. Of Johnnie Dixon's last seven catches, how many have been for touchdowns?
3. How many freshmen running backs have rushed for 1,000 or more yards for Ohio State?

Answers at the bottom of today's article.

2017 Player Comparison

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
J.T. BARRETT	2,374 YDS // 28 TD // 5 INT	PASSING	BRIAN LEWERKE	2,207 YDS // 16 TD // 4 INT
J.K. DOBBINS	917 YDS // 7.7 YPC 5 TD	RUSHING	LJ SCOTT	554 YDS //  4.4 YPC // 5 TD
K.J. HILL	417 YDS // 3 TD	RECEIVING	FELTON DAVIS III	586 YDS // 8 TD
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
JORDAN FULLER	52	TACKLES	JOE BACHIE	71
TYQUAN LEWIS	4.5	SACKS	CHRIS FREY	3.5
DAMON WEBB	2	INTERCEPTIONS	DAVID DOWELL	2
SPECIAL TEAMS
K.J. HILL	4.0 YPR	PUNT RETURNER	LARESS NELSON	4.9 YPR
PARRIS CAMPBELL	36.6 YPR	KICKOFF RETURN	CONNOR HEYWARD	27.1 YPR
DRUE CHRISMAN	42.7	PUNTING	JAKE HARTBARGER	41.9
6		EDGE	4

THE COACHES

Urban Meyer

• 68–8 (.894) at Ohio State (6th year)
• 172–31 (.847) overall (16th year)
• 44–3 (.936) Big Ten regular season conference record

Mark Dantonio

• 97–44 (.688) at Michigan State (11th year)
• 115–61 (.653) overall as a college coach (14th year)
• 58–29 (.667) Big Ten regular season conference record

CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER

 

• Ohio State has defeated Michigan State in 10 of the last 12 regular season games.
• J.K. Dobbins leads all freshmen by averaging 7.7 yards per carry.
• The Buckeyes have not allowed any opponent to return a punt this season.
• Johnnie Dixon leads the Big Ten by averaging 24.2 yards per catch. His 8 TD receptions is tied for first in the conference.
• Four Ohio State players are from the state of Michigan: Josh Alabi, Michael Jordan, Damon Webb and Mike Weber.
• Johnnie Dixon has 17 catches this season. Eight of those receptions were for touchdowns.
• Nick Bosa leads the Buckeyes with 10.5 tackles for loss.
• 16 different players have caught a pass this season. 10 different player have a receiving touchdown. 
• The last two games between the Ohio State and MSU have been decided by a total of four points.
• Buckeye teams under Urban Meyer have scored 50 or more points 23 times. The Buckeyes won all of those games.
• The Buckeyes' last game on November 11th was a 54-10 slaughter of Northwestern in 2006.
• Ohio State is 15–4–1 on the 11th of November and has won 11 of the last 12 games played on that date.

2017 Statistical Comparison

OFFENSE
43.8	5th	POINTS FOR	24.1	96th
235.3	20th	RUSHING OFFENSE	156.8	75th
313.7	16th	PASSING OFFENSE	245.8	53rd
549.0	4th	TOTAL OFFENSE	402.6	63rd
.477	10th	3rd DOWNS	.433	40th
.878	43rd	RED ZONE	.800	86th
DEFENSE
22.3	38th	POINTS ALLOWED	20.1	27th
122.3	17th	RUSH DEFENSE	87.0	3rd
200.7	39th	PASS DEFENSE	216.7	58th
124.8	56th	PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE	112.2	23rd
323.0	20th	TOTAL DEFENSE	303.7	12th
.328	29th	3rd DOWNS	.308	16th
.778	34th	RED ZONE	.905	114th
SPECIAL TEAMS
4.4	107th	PUNT RETURN	3.1	120th
25.2	14th	KICKOFF RETURN	23.6	31st
42.0	11th	NET PUNTING	37.9	66th
MISCELLANEOUS
+ 0.1	61st	TURNOVER MARGIN	0.0	65th
7.9	116th	PENALTIES	6.8	84th
12		EDGE	6

TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS
 

How many Big Ten teams have defeated Ohio State teams coached by Urban Meyer twice? (One, MSU)

Answer: One, Michigan State

Of Johnnie Dixon's last seven catches, how many have been for touchdowns?

Answer: Four.

How many freshmen running backs have rushed for 1,000 or more yards for Ohio State?

Answer: Three. Robert Smith (1990), Maurice Clarett (2002) and Mike Weber (2016).

ICYMI
The 1942 Season Through The Words Of the Past: 11/8/1942