MSU Looking to Add to History of Improbable Upset Over Buckeyes

Michigan State Football Heads To Columbus to Add To History Of Improbably Upsets Of the Ohio State Buckeyes!

Under Mark Dantonio, Michigan State has had no shortage of trademark wins, but when the Spartans go into Columbus on Saturday night against No. 4 ranked Ohio State, a win over the Buckeyes could turn out to be the most unlikely of wins they’ve secured in Dantonio’s tenure in East Lansing. 

The Buckeyes are already making a case for being the top team in the country, featuring a high-powered offense led by Georgia-transfer Justin Fields at quarterback and a defense that is No. 2 in the country in total defense. 

But while the odds are against the Spartans on Saturday night, they understand that the road to a Big Ten title goes through Columbus and they have the coach who has proven multiple times that he has the right formula to knock off a heavily favored Ohio State team. 

“You've got to be able to measure up to win your share there or if you want to be Big Ten Champion,” said Dantonio. “The two times we've won and beat Ohio State, we've become the Big Ten Champion. The third time we were able to win down there was in 2011, and I think we were an 11-1 (11-3) football team, so pretty good. And played in the -- I believe we went to the -- yeah, we did, we went to the championship game. So the three times that we've won, we were able to get to the championship game. Our goal is to get to that championship game and then play it out. So it goes through Columbus. We knew that coming into this season, and so we've got to be able to play up to it. We've got to play up, and we've got some injuries, obviously, you guys know that, but we've got to play up. We've got good players and guys that can compete.” 

A win for Spartans, who enter as a 20-point underdog against the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe on Saturday night, would only be comparable to the upset Michigan State pulled off over Ohio State back in 1998 when Dantonio was an assistant under Nick Saban. The Spartans went into Columbus as a 20-point underdog against an 8-0 Ohio State team that looked to be a lock to go to the National Championship, but after falling behind 17-3 in the first quarter, Michigan State would score the game’s final 10 points, securing a 28-24 win and spoiling the Buckeyes’ national title hopes. 

 “I remember we were 28-point underdogs,” Dantonio said. “Julian Peterson had five sacks, and we played extremely well on defense and had a punt return and played pretty well on the offensive side of the ball, decent, and kept us in the game. We just kept chopping wood basically. A big interception by Renaldo Hill at the end of the deal, and I think it was four downs from the 20 or the 15 or the 10 at the end of the game, four straight downs where they tested us from a passing perspective. So great win, big win, and part of the history.”

The Spartans have an opportunity to dampen national title aspirations once again, while also reemerging as legitimate Big Ten championship contenders. 

With Dantonio has head coach, Michigan State has earned signature victories over the Buckeyes, including a Big Ten Championship Game win in 2013. But the most unlikely of wins over Ohio State came in 2015 when the No. 9 Spartans were 13-point underdogs, playing without starting quarterback Connor Cook, and left Columbus with a 17-14 win over the No. 3 Buckeyes thanks to a last-second field goal from Michael Geiger. 

“We've had success down there in the past,” he said. “We'll look forward to trying to replicate that, but, again, it will be a challenge as we go, but that's what this is about. At the end of the day, if you want to be Big Ten Champions or the East Division Champions, that goes through Columbus, Ohio. We know that. We expect that. And that's been the norm here pretty much for some time now.” 

Like many times before, there isn’t a ton of optimism regarding Michigan State’s chances against the Buckeyes, and understandably so, but if anyone knows the formula of what it takes to unseat a heavily favored Ohio State team, it’s Dantonio. 

For all of the latest news on the 2019 Michigan State football team, be sure to stay tuned to Spartan Nation! 

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