Michigan State football’s goals dashed in loss at Ohio State

Unlike that game two years ago, which came late in the season and ended a surprising surge, this year’s Spartans (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) are just entering the meat of their Big Ten schedule and already have been dealt a devastating defeat to their aspirations. The next four games – Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois and Michigan – are vital to contending for the East Division championship.

The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0) seized control of the path to the Big Ten championship game. And MSU now must travel to No. 9 Wisconsin, a moment that not only will determine the Spartans’ quest for a title but very possibly define the legacies of a group of seniors who made it their mission to get coach Mark Dantonio a fourth Big Ten crown.

“We still got a top-10 team in the nation next week and then another really good team after that who’ll be in the top 10 when we play them,” senior quarterback Brian Lewerke said. “Penn State’s really good, Wisconsin’s really good, so we gotta group back together and get going.”

MSU opened Saturday with three dominating defensive stands – nine Ohio State plays, two sacks, minus-4 yards, no first downs. And yet the Spartans still trailed as their offense fumbled the ball away twice their first four plays deep in their own territory.

Those back-to-back possessions put a mental strain on a defense already knowing it need to play near-perfect football to pull off the upset. And the sharpened focus quickly faded as quarterback Justin Fields and running back J.K. Dobbins settled in and caught fire.

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Fields, the sophomore Georgia transfer, burned MSU’s blown coverage to hit Binjimen Victor for a 60-yard touchdown. He juked past redshirt freshman cornerback Kalon Gervin, who had just missed a tackle attempt on a 13-yard Dobbins first-down run.

On the next drive, Fields – who 17 of 25 for 206 yards with two TDs and his first interception of the season – connected on a 21-yard scoring pass to Luke Farrell on third-and-5. Three MSU defenders – Joe Bachie, Josiah Scott and Tyriq Thompson – could not bring down the tight end.

Michigan State linebacker Joe Bachie tries to tackle Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields during the first quarter at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

Then with MSU trailing, 17-10, Dobbins burst unfettered through the Spartans’ defensive line and into the secondary. Scott caught up to him but failed to tackle him, instead flailing and failing to punch the ball out as the junior running back went into the end zone to make it 24-10 with 2:24 left before halftime.

Ball game.

“We definitely slipped. And you could tell,” Williams said. “They made plays. A few plays bust, so the score got out of hand. Quickly. They were just all explosive plays – it’s not like they nickel-and-dimed it down the field and pounded it down the field.”

Ohio State had 294 yards – including all 163 of their first-half rushing yards – in the second quarter after just 16 in the first period. The Buckeyes added 130 more yards on the ground in the fourth quarter.

“We just struggled that second quarter and just killed ourselves,” Bachie said. “They did nothing special. They just executed a little better than we did.”

Now comes the Spartans’ first trip to Wisconsin since 2012. They won that day in Madison, with Andrew Maxwell delivering a 16-13 overtime victory in a 7-6 season that came a week after a crushing, streak-ending loss at Michigan.

The stakes in that moment were dramatically different. MSU was fighting for bowl eligibility after being picked to continue the success Dantonio built with a share of the Big Ten title in 2010 and a division crown a year later.

However, the overall sense of disappointment that season in taking a step backward felt much like the single-game microcosm of frustration Saturday’s loss to the Buckeyes. The difference is there is no next season, no magical 2013 Rose Bowl run ahead next year. Not with this many senior starters, some of whom bypassed entering the NFL draft to collectively chase something special this year.

Lose at Wisconsin, and the moment of chasing a championship will be fleeting and forgotten.

“Things happen, let’s get it. … Let’s respond, man. And that’s how you gotta look at it,” senior wide receiver Darrell Stewart said. “That’s how the game of football goes. Things are gonna happen, mistakes are gonna happen, but it’s on you to capitalize.

“A real man is gonna respond to adversity.”