Another sleepless night before a game

As my loyal readers know, I usually can't sleep before a Buckeyes game. This will prove to be a problem next week, when my daughter and I will have to wake up at 6am to head to Columbus to see the Indiana game....but that's next week.

So I'm preparing to be up late tonight. I'll probably spend some time trying to create a better quality version of "Buckeye Battle Cry", one of my first YouTube videos. but in the meantime, here's my thoughts on the Michigan State game tomorrow.

It'll take a quarter to get rolling, but the Buckeyes will win big in this game. My prediction is that it's going to be John L. Smith's final game as the Spartans' Head Coach. He's become the John Cooper of the State Up North. And that's saying A LOT when you consider that Lllloyd Carr has made a habit of losing to his biggest rival this century.

Michigan State's biggest strength is their offense. And they are hurting there....badly. Nearly half of their rushing yardage will be sitting on the bench, in the form of an injured Javon Ringer. One-fourth of their receptions will be sitting on the bench, in the form of an injured Matt Trannon.

That leaves Drew Stanton as their biggest (and only) weapon. And that's not going to cut it against the #1 scoring defense in the NCAA.

On the other side of the ball....well, Michigan State's defense is awful. They give up 26 points per game. As a matter of fact, their BEST game of the year was when they allowed 17 points....to Idaho. Yes, Idaho. By the way, Idaho had the ball near midfield with a chance to tie and only 4 minutes left in the game. Again, that was Michigan State's BEST game of the year.

So, when you add all this up, you can see that I am now willing to admit that I was overestimating the Spartans when I circled this game on my schedule as a dangerous day. It's not, and the Buckeyes will romp tomorrow.

Ohio State 38
Mich State 10