Michigan State Football: 3 reasons for optimism ahead of Ohio State game

We are just two weeks away from the end of the 2021 regular season and Michigan State football is still in the hunt for a Big Ten title and even a College Football Playoff berth.

Mel Tucker has done a really good job with this team of transfers, some veterans, and incoming freshmen and he looks to have the Spartans ready on Saturday afternoon.

Can Michigan State reclaim some 2015 magic and beat the heavily-favored Buckeyes?

Why should MSU fans be optimistic about this otherwise stressful Ohio State matchup?

3. Payton Thorne doesn’t get rattled

If you look at all the big games Payton Thorne has played in, he never gets too high or too low and rarely makes poor decisions. His interception number this season has been pretty deceiving because a few have come on tipped balls by receivers or at the line and the last one was a Hail Mary attempt right before the half against Maryland.

Thorne has played well (for most of the game) against Michigan, Miami, and even at Purdue this year. All of those were high-pressure games and he didn’t fold. You can criticize Michigan State for a lot of things at Purdue, but Thorne’s play was not the issue.

And you can go back to last year when he played extensively against these Buckeyes and actually fared well. He also dominated for a half at Penn State before the Nittany Lions turned things around in the second half and lit up the Spartan defense.

Thorne doesn’t get rattled and a road game against Ohio State is not going to cause him to play any differently than his normal: consistently.