Review of OSU Game: We're Going to Need Obsession

Well folks, this one hurt. No getting around it. It hurt because it obviously kills our dreams of a national championship. And it hurts because it shows you that in the long term MSU will have a tough path to the national championship and even the B10 title.


The good news is that at least MSU showed they can score on a very good OSU defense. The offense was not overwhelmed and actually won the battle against OSU's defense. But the bad news is that offenses have now figured out how to beat a Narduzzi defense. The Spartan D is clearly struggling against offenses that use a lot spread elements. The secondary has also just plain blown too many coverages.

In the long run, Ohio State and Urban Meyer are now clearly focused on (and probably obsessed with) MSU. They will not overlook MSU, again. They will prepare a full year to make sure they beat MSU. That's what we saw in this game. We saw the results of a year-long adjustment by Meyer and OSU. Of course, Meyer was helped by the fact that Barrett may be the best quarterback in the country. I actually do think that MSU could have beat OSU with Braxton Miller. But JT Barrett is too accurate. That's what you need to beat a Narduzzi D.

So, now MSU needs to embark on its year-long adjustment. They must find a way to deal with spread offenses and with JT Barrett. They may want to start by looking at how Alabama handles all the spread-ish offenses it faces. They may want to even look at what Rich Rodriguez does to slow down teams like Oregon.

The coaches will have a lot of work to do. This could be the start of a grueling rivalry.