COLUMBUS — Ohio State improved to 6-0 with a 34-10 win over Michigan State on Saturday night.
The fourth-ranked Buckeyes grabbed control of the game in the second quarter and never looked back against No. 25 Michigan State, which fell to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten.
Justin Fields threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 61 yards and another touchdown as his strong start to the season continued.
J.K. Dobbins added 172 yards on the ground and another touchdown as the Buckeyes put up season-highs in points and total yards for a Michigan State opponent.
Trailing 27-10, Michigan State took the opening kickoff of the second half and ripped off big chunks of yardage, driving to the Ohio State 9-yard line before stalling and coming up empty when Matt Coghlin’s 27-yard field goal went wide left.
Ohio State put together a nice drive on the following possession, but it came to an end when Fairfield High School grad Josiah Scott picked off a Fields pass inside the 20 and returned it near midfield.
That turned out to be one of the bright spots of the second half for the Spartans, who were shut out in the third quarter and yielded a 1-yard touchdown run to Fields with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter to fall behind 34-10.
A touchdown run by Justin Fields gives Ohio State a 34-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter. pic.twitter.com/L3booW4G8h
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) October 6, 2019
FIRST HALF RECAP
Ohio State shook off a poor first quarter to take a double-digit halftime lead over visiting Michigan State on Saturday night.
Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes and J.K. Dobbins ran for one while Blake Haubeil made a pair of field goals to give the fourth-ranked Buckeyes a 27-10 lead over the 25th-ranked Spartans.
Ohio State led 3-0 after one quarter, but that was only thanks to a Michigan State fumble that gave the Buckeyes a short field.
After gaining just 16 yards and two first downs in the opening 15 minutes, Ohio State found the end zone with a bit of trickery early in the second quarter.
Fields rolled right and looked like he would run the ball, but when he pulled up he found Binjimen Victor wide open on the sideline as the MSU defense reacted to the fake.
Victor caught the ball, made a man miss then was off to the races. He was hit as he reached the goal line and lost the ball, but the play was ruled a touchdown and that call was upheld upon review.
Ohio State led 10-0, but that was short-lived.
The Spartans answered with a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Brian Lewerke to Darrell Stewart, who was wide open on what appeared to be busted coverage.
The Buckeyes got those points back with 8:09 left in the second quarter when Fields found Luke Farrell over the middle and Farrell powered his way past multiple Spartans into the end zone.
After a 39-yard field goal by Matt Coghlin for Michigan State, Ohio State wasted little time going back on the attack.
This time it was Dobbins, who took a handoff and blew through a big hole on the right side and sprinted 67 yards for another touchdown. A Michigan State defender appeared to have a chance to trip him up down the field but tried to punch the ball loose and missed, leaving Dobbins to go the rest of the way with no trouble.
