Spartans Heavy Underdogs at Home vs. Ohio State

The Michigan State Spartans will return to Spartan Stadium to face their toughest team of the season, the Ohio State Buckeyes. As significant underdogs, Michigan State will look to surprise the nation with an upset performance after competing in every game this season.

Sep 21, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Michigan State Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles (2) runs the ball against the Boston College Eagles during the first half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The Michigan State Spartans will face one of the best teams in college football at home this Saturday night in the Ohio State Buckeyes.

According to Vegas Insider, the Spartans are 24.5-point underdogs and are projected to lose by a wide margin.

The Spartans have been underdogs in three of their first five games this season and have been no stranger to playing with little expectation from the national media and sports books.

Although, they have surprised viewers in the past this season with a win over Maryland as 8-point underdogs and nearly taking down a strong Boston College team last Saturday, which they were nearly seven point underdogs to start the week.

Excluding the 40-0 win over Prairie View A&M, the Spartans have been in close games all year long, competing in three games this season where the final score was decided by six or fewer points. Even with an extremely wide spread, we could see a closer score than originally anticipated this weekend.

The Buckeyes are off to an expected 3-0 start, outscoring their opponents 157-20, including a 56-0 shutout to Western Michigan in Week 2. They also lead the nation in average scoring margin with a +45.7.

This is a program with national championship expectations and will surely play to that level behind the steady quarterback play of Kansas State transfer Will Howard and multiple NFL-caliber skill players in the backfield and wide receiver room.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith is trying to establish physicality and consistency in his group this year and has done an excellent job preparing his players for game days with gradually reducing penalties, better defensive play, and confident attitudes from all his guys. Expect more of that this week.

“Good opponent coming in, looking forward to Saturday night against Ohio State at our place and what not,” Smith said on Monday. “Got a bunch of respect for that program and those coaches and those players, it'll be a real real challenge that we're going to put a lot of work into this week to take on.”

If the offense can return a few skill players this week and step up this weekend, with how the defense played last week against Boston College, that 24.5 point spread might by a little disrespectful towards the Spartans.

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