Buckeye Rosters

Recap

East Lansing, MI — Behind a stellar defensive effort, the No. 19 Michigan State Spartans defeated the No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes 23-7 in Spartan Stadium. The MSU defense limited OSU to just 79 yards of total offense.

The Buckeyes moved the ball 54 yards on eight plays to the MSU 26-yard line on their first possession. But a pair of sacks by MSU defensive lineman Julian Peterson and an incomplete pass stalled the drive and moved the Buckeyes out of field goal range. The drive accounted for three of OSU’s four first downs the entire game.

OSU limited the Spartans to just 38 yards on 12 plays in the first quarter. But with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter, the Spartans took a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Paul Edinger capped an 11-play, 41-yard drive with a 35-yard field goal.

After a three-and-out by the Ohio State offense, the Spartans took over with the ball at the Ohio State 45-yard line. Seven plays later, quarterback Bill Burke found Plaxico Burress open in the left corner of the end zone to stretch the MSU lead to 10-0.

After another three-and-out by the OSU offense, the Spartans took over again in Ohio State territory. MSU immediately drove to the OSU 4-yard line on six plays. On fourth-and-goal, Burke eluded the Ohio State blitz and found Chris Baker open in the end zone to increase the MSU lead to 17-0.

In the third quarter, OSU reached the scoreboard for its first and only time of the afternoon. On MSU’s second drive of the half, Ahmed Plummer intercepted a Burke pass attempted for Burress and returned the ball 37 yards to the MSU 14-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Steve Bellisari connected with tailback Michael Wiley for a 4-yard touchdown reception to cut the MSU lead to 17-7.

On the next series, the Spartans put together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in Edinger’s second field goal of the afternoon. The 33-yard boot increased the MSU lead 20-7.

MSU added another field goal in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Buckeyes were led by Gary Berry’s 13 tackles. Freshman Michael Doss contributed a career-high 12 tackles and middle linebacker Jason Ott chipped in with 10.