Michigan State football: 3 keys to victory over No. 4 Ohio State

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Michigan State’s Jacub Panasiuk, right, and Itayvion Brown pressure Maryland’s quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211113 Msu Maryland 178a /

2. Timely pressure from Michigan State football

Michigan State’s defense isn’t good. Their bend-not-break strategy has been stressful to watch, but it has worked for them in games where they didn’t match up well against a good offense.

Take the game against Michigan for example, where the Spartans walked out with a 37-33 victory. Bend-not-break worked, let’s admit that. They forced Michigan to score in the red zone, which they didn’t do. Even converting one of their three red-zone field goals into touchdowns would likely lock the game for Michigan.

Ohio State has had the same problem. They’ve looked really strong some weeks and have struggled in the red zone in others. Against Nebraska, Ohio State was 1-for-4 in the red zone on touchdown opportunities.

One way Michigan State may be able to improve their defense is by getting timely pressure on CJ Stroud. No team has been able to pressure Stroud this year because he’s able to get the ball off so quickly. If Michigan State forces him to throw sooner, they may also be able to prevent big plays downfield.

Nebraska was able to stay in the game against Ohio State by preventing deep passes and keeping Stroud on the field. Last week’s game against Purdue yielded several big plays downfield.

It could be a big game for Xavier Henderson and the rest of Michigan State’s defense. Their physical play could very well help Michigan State stay competitive in this game.

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