VBR Against The Spread-Week 5
By Matt de Bear
September 15, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer before the game against the California Golden Bears at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-US PRESSWIRE
Ohio State at Michigan State (-3)
The fact this could be the best match up of the weekend says a lot about the slate of games. Ohio State travels to East Lansing, coming off two consecutive mediocre performances. Michigan State hopes to regain their stride for the Big 10 slate after a blowout home loss to Notre Dame, and a VERY concerning effort against Eastern Michigan.
Matt – Ohio State
A couple of weeks ago, I’d have LOVED Sparty -3. Not anymore. Michigan State has serious issues at QB and relies entirely too much on Le’Veon Bell. The Columbus native will have trouble finding room against the OSU defense, and Andrew Maxwell and his receivers won’t provide enough relief. MSU’s defense will slow down Braxton Miller, but not enough. I’ll settle for the 3 points, but I think the Buckeyes win outright.
Tim – Michigan State
I could see Braxton Miller carrying Ohio State to a win here, but I like Sparty’s defense and the OSU passing defense may be the medicine that Michigan State has been looking for. I’ll take Michigan State at home in a close one.
Craig – Ohio State
I think OSU is the better team right now. MSU has some serious issues on the offensive side of the ball. I feel that knowing MSU is one-dimensional will allow OSU to stack the box and limit Bell’s success running. With MSU scoring coming at a premium, I think Braxton’s dual-threat ability will allow OSU to pull the upset. OSU wins this one outright.
Corey – Michigan State
Wow, this is supposed to be the marquee game of the weekend, and…well, its just not! The Big Ten is down and you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken…well, you know the rest. The winner of this game gets a reprieve for a week while the loser endures national scorn as a pretender in the national title race. If we look at it from through those lenses, the game means more to Michigan State since they have already lost a game. Ohio State and Braxton Miller have the more potent offense while I think Michigan State has the better defense. What’s the old mantra, “a good defense beats a good offense.” Well, who am I to go against conventional wisdom!