Matt Charboneau

The Detroit News

East Lansing — The fretting and frustration over playoff rankings can now end.

Michigan State was looking to make a statement Saturday night, instead it was Ohio State that did so in resounding fashion.

The Buckeyes were nearly unstoppable, beating the Spartans, 49-37, while rolling up 568 yards in total offense and scoring on five straight drives. It was the most points Michigan State has allowed in a regular-season game since 2008 and the most at home since 2005.

"This is one for the ages," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "That's how much respect we had for our opponent going into it. We saw what they did. They had one loss and were actually winning that game until it got away from them somehow out in Oregon. We played a top-10 team and we really played our best and on the road.

The victory, the 21st straight conference win for the Buckeyes, virtually assures No. 13 Ohio State (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) of the East Division championship and a trip to the Big Ten Championship game while No. 8 Michigan State (7-2, 4-1) saw its 13-game conference winning streak end and its playoff hopes dashed in front of 76,409 at Spartan Stadium.

"It's a game, it's disappointment," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "Had big hopes in this football game. Great stage, great environment, great fans. Everything you want in a college football game. I thought it was a great game. But at the end of the day we don't get what we wanted and sometimes that's the way life is. So we regroup, we move forward, and that's what we've always done."

Michigan State could do little to stop Ohio State, specifically quarterback J.T. Barrett, who threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 86 yards and two more scores. Ezekiel Elliott added 154 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Buckeyes while Devin Smith had six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown.

The Spartans entered the game allowing only 279.4 total yards a game and 95.4 yards on the ground. But the Buckeyes obliterated those numbers by halftime and finished with 300 passing yards and 268 on the ground.

"That guy made about every pass he could," Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said of Barrett. "He is a great football player. He played big in a big game. He didn't throw off the mark at all and those guys were ready to make the catch. That goes to having a guy who throws the ball where it needs to be thrown. He is a heck of a quarterback."

Michigan State's offense was solid most of the game, gaining 536 total yards. Quarterback Connor Cook threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns but was 25-for-45 and just 6-for-18 at halftime. Jeremy Langford ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns and was the only consistent offensive threat for the Spartans.

And as impressive as Ohio State was offensively, the biggest moment in the game came in the final few minutes of the first half as Michigan State led 21-14 and was on the verge of taking control after Montae Nicholson recovered an Ohio State fumble on a kickoff return.

Instead of extend their lead, however, the Spartans found themselves on the wrong side of a dramatic turnaround.

Michigan State started at the Ohio State 18 with 4:30 left in the half and appeared to push the lead to 28-14 on a Langford touchdown run, but a holding call on Jack Allen negated the play. After an incomplete pass in the end zone, Michael Geiger missed a 39-yard field goal, the fifth straight game he missed a field-goal attempt.

On the next play, Barrett hit Michael Thomas with a 79-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Michigan State then punted on the next drive and the Buckeyes needed only five plays to take the lead on a 44-yard pass from Barrett to Smith with 56 seconds left in the half.

"All the sudden, momentum just flipped," Dantonio said. "I thought it was pretty equal back and forth. So we've got to try to counter that. We came out second half, I thought we did. But the bottom line was, let's face it, the bottom line was, we didn't stop them, we couldn't stop them."

Up to that point, Michigan State was in good shape. It had gotten a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Keith Mumphery and a pair of Langford touchdown runs. But Barrett had scored on a pair of runs to keep the Buckeyes close before they exploded in the final minutes of the half.

"If you really want to look at it, it might be an even bigger swing than that at the end of the half," Dantonio said. "Three minutes to go in the half we go in 28-14 there's a different feel, there's a different … a little bit more like 'OK, we got em.' But they hit two big plays in that three minutes and so you deal with it."

Michigan State opened the second half with a 40-yard field goal from Geiger to cut the margin to 28-24, but Ohio State couldn't be slowed. It scored on its next three possessions, getting a 1-yard run from Elliott, a 7-yard pass from Barrett to Dontre Wilson and a 17-yard run from Elliott.

The Spartans tried to stay in it, getting a 16-yard touchdown pass from Cook to Josiah Price and a 1-yard run from Langford with 5:20 to play.

But the defense couldn't get the ball back and the Buckeyes essentially ran the clock out, punting in the final minute.

"I'm glad everybody got to see the Ohio State Buckeyes," Meyer said. "Because this is a different Buckeye team than it was early in the season. When you have six or seven true freshmen starting for you, we're a much different team. This team right now is playing on a very, very high level. I'm not sure what all that means other than we got to get ready to play next week."

For Michigan State it means it now must focus on finishing its strong in its final three games and still reaching a decent bowl game, possibly one of the games in the playoff rotation not being used as a semifinal site.

"We've still got three games left on the board," senior offensive lineman Travis Jackson said. "This one hurts but we've got to move on to Maryland. It's gonna be a tough environment and we are gonna have to play well to win."

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

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