Jonathan Smith also recognized this in looking for positives after Ohio State’s 38-7 win over Michigan State in East Lansing, which opened the conference for the Buckeyes. Smith went out of his way to emphasize several times during his post-game press conference that he felt like his team wasn’t showing up or felt overwhelmed on many snaps during the game.

However, the Spartans’ head coach also criticized MSU’s mistakes and shortcomings while crediting Ohio State for capitalizing. Smith specifically pointed to the first drive of the game for Michigan State’s offense, which ended in a turnover on downs, as well as a failed interception later, multiple fumbles and a 27-yard punt before the end of the first half.

“Courtesy of Ohio State. That’s a good football team, well coached. We didn’t help ourselves in the first half. self-inflicted.”

Smith admitted that the margin of victory indicated the game really didn’t seem close, despite his insistence that MSU didn’t look too close. After going into the locker room down 24-7, he believed that a strong effort, including winning on points in the third quarter, would have put the Spartans in position to make the game competitive again in the fourth. Instead, Ohio State scored two more touchdowns and shut out the hosts for the rest of the evening with four MSU punts and an interception over the final 30 minutes of the game.

“Credit to OSU, 38-7 isn’t that close. Looking at each photo, we weren’t overwhelmed. I really thought the effort was there. The difference is that they took action and took care of the ball. I think both teams played pretty hard.”

The Michigan State head coach specifically mentioned the Buckeyes’ defensive front for making life difficult for the Spartans on offense. Ohio State finished the night with four sacks, three turnovers and allowed just 65 yards of offense in the second half. The Spartans averaged just 1.9 yards per carry as a team on the ground, while dual-threat quarterback Aidan Chiles finished the night with -9 rushing yards on six attempts.

“Without Total Studying it (OL Rakeem Johnson and OL Rustin Young) I felt like they weren’t completely overwhelmed and (QB Aidan Chiles) had time… they (OSU) have a good front there, you have to choose between pressure with one on one. we had the mentality of making them earn it.