East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State suffered a lopsided loss at home to an Ohio State team with a lot of talent on both sides of the football. The Buckeyes beat the Spartans handily in this game, 38-7, but Michigan State won a lot of plays.

This game was closer than the final score might seem to indicate to the extent that there was appreciable progress in some area’s for Jonathan Smith’s ballclub. Afterward, SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni and Paul Konyndyk sort through both the good and bad against the Buckeyes in the latest V-Cast.

V-CAST TOPICS:

Aidan Chiles takes a step: Aside from an interception and a near interception in the second half, Aidan Chiles delivered a solid performance for Michigan State in this game. Although he was far from perfect, Chiles did more than an enough in a difficult match-up against Ohio State to deem this outing a significant step in the right direction for the sophomore quarterback. Chiles was at his best in the opening half, completing 10-of-13 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. The first-half version of Aidan Chiles is one that Michigan State can win with.

O-Line shuffles once again: Michigan State has not played with same offensive line once this season, and injuries continue to alter the make-up of the front five. Listed as questionable on the pre-game injury report, sophomore offensive tackle Stanton Ramil did not play for Michigan State against the Buckeyes. In his place, the Spartans started true freshman Rakeem Johnson at left tackle. Johnson wasn’t the only true freshman offensive lineman to take the field against the Buckeyes. Rustin Young also took a good number of snaps on the o-line for the Spartans. Johnson played as well as one could expect a true freshman making his first career start against defensive line as good as Ohio State’s, but the ever-changing line-up on the o-line is less than ideal for a group that is looking to develop consistency in performance.

Defense flashes: Michigan State gave up a lot of yards against Ohio State, but the Spartan defense also made plenty of loud plays. Linebacker Jordan Turner had a big night for Michigan State. The Wisconsin transfer had an interception after dropping into coverage. He also delivered a big hit on Ohio State quarterback Will Howard. The Spartan defense also had some plays that might have been momentum changers had they been made. The biggest of those plays was a near-interception in the end zone by safety Malik Spencer. One play after dropping what should have been an interception, Ohio State scored a touchdown on fourth-and-goal to take a 10-0 lead.

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