University Football: No. 10 Ohio faces another test of Michigan's No. 18



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If all goes as planned, Ohio State will face Michigan on the last Saturday of the month with a division title in the balance.

MORE: Notre Dame takes the place of LSU, Michigan jumps to 4th place in PFC ranking

Before that, however, the Buckeyes, ranked No. 10 in the playoffs, have other challenges to face.

This week, it's the Michigan states that oppose and, although Ohio beat the Spartans 48-3 one season ago, there have been enough close games in this series in the last season. time for Saturday's game to be reserved for the Buckeyes. Spartans # 18 will be at home and they still have a lot to play for themselves.

"Very strong rivalry," said Urban Meyer, coach of the Ohio State. "We have a lot of respect for this team."

The rivalry with Michigan can wait: the Ohio State quarterback, Dwayne Haskins Jr. was apparently willing to seek the help of Wolverines quarterback Shea Patterson when preparing for this match with the state of Michigan. Haskins said he and Patterson had known each other since the eighth year of football star games and camps and that they had talked about the Spartans.

"I hit him to ask him how they had played in defense, and he gave me some tips for the coming week," said Haskins.

Haskins said he did not even rally against Patterson as long as the Wolverines were playing against someone else.

"He's doing well this year," said Haskins. "I look forward to playing them when we play them.But for the moment, it's Michigan State, so he's helping me with Michigan State."

Patterson led Michigan to a 21-7 win over the Spartans on Oct. 20, but the Michigan State (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) can still position itself for a prestigious cut with a solid finish. A win over the Buckeyes (8-1, 5-1) would do wonders.

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"Once we get closer to the end of the season, and you start to see the predictions of the bowl," said quarterback Spartans Brian Lewerke. "All we can do now, now that we're in a bowl position, is just to win and try to win as many matches as possible, just keep trying to get better and best bowl for us. "

Here are some things to know before the Spartans host the Buckeyes:

L & # 39; HISTORY

Michigan State beat the Ohio State en route to the Big Ten titles in 2013 and 2015, but the Buckeyes won a key game against the Spartans in 2014 and then won the national title.

As competitive as the Michigan State has been with Meyer's Buckeyes, the Spartans have lost their last six home games in this series.

Support his man

Lewerke started most of the season as a quarterback for Michigan State, but he had a broken shoulder recently and Rocky Lombardi did some good things in relief. The Spartans coach, Mark Dantonio, has tried to dispel some of the uncertainty this week.

"Brian is our starter, I think you can go," said Dantonio. "Is it 100%? Nobody is 100% to 10 games of the season, but if he could not play, he would not play."

ON THE RUN

Michigan State has the defense of the race at the top of the country, but the state of Ohio is not likely to be intimidated. The Buckeyes have reaped 335 yards during the eruption of last season. J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber combined for 254 rushing yards in a win over Nebraska last weekend.

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GREAT GAMES

The Spartans are 10-6 in their last 16 games against teams in the top 10 of the AP, including a victory against the Penn State, number 8, earlier this season. The state of Ohio ranked second in the state of Michigan defeats in 2013 and 2015.

ON A ROLL

Haskins may not need much help from Patterson or anyone. He has completed 70% of his pass attempts this season and has gone over 3,000 passing yards.

This article was written by Noah Trister of the Associated Press and was legally licensed by the NewsCred Newspaper Network. Please send any licensing questions to [email protected].

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