Michigan State 17, Ohio State 10—HALFTIME
Ohio State (12-0) is in a battle with Michigan State (11-1) for the Big Ten Championship, trailing at halftime at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The game is being shown live on Fox, and live stats can be found at NCAA.com. Our first-half grades and analysis for the Buckeyes can be found below. Check back here right after the game to see a full review of OSU's effort against Michigan State.
First half analysis for the Ohio State Buckeyes:
Pass Offense: Braxton Miller hasn't had many open receivers, but he found Philly Brown on a seam route for Ohio State's TD and then hooked up with TE Jeff Hueremanon on a long pass to set up a late FG. He's been sacked three times, though.
Run Offense: Miller's ability to scramble on busted pass plays has been OSU's best run call. Carlos Hyde hasn't been able to get going, other than one strong run up the middle, as the line is failing to hold blocks.
Pass Defense: OSU has been fooled on a pair of play-action plays, both resulting in touchdown passes. When the Buckeyes get pressure, though, they're forcing Connor Cook to throw it away.
Run Defense: The front seven has been stellar, holding Jeremy Langford to 22 yards on 13 carries, with no run longer than eight yards, forcing Michigan State to throw more than normal.
Special Teams: The Buckeyes have been called for a kick-catch interference penalty, while Dontre Wilson lost 10 yards by choosing to bring a kickoff out of the end zone.
Coaching: Early play-calling resembled a staff disinterested in taking risks, devoid of the big-play starts OSU has had the last two months. The playbook opened up after falling behind 17 points.
Read more Big Ten Football news on BleacherReport.com