“The Buckeyes probably just need to win out to stay on top, but that doesn’t mean America would relish the sight of another sketchy Big Ten champ back in a game where it was humiliated last season.”

Another implies that Pat Forde finds one of or both of the 2002 and 2006 Buckeyes to be “sketchy Big Ten champs.” Anybody want to take a shot at that one?

I appreciate your points.

“The fact that the OSU and MSU offenses were playing against different defenses, makes direct comparison of their offensive production meaningless.”

That’s a good point, but we can still compare offenses if they’ve played against a common opponent. Check out the offensive numbers from our “common opponent” post from last week, and you’ll see that OSU outperformed MSU against the exact same defense.

I understand what you’re trying to say, but there’s no doubt… after considering the common opponent and seeing the two on the same field, it’s clear that OSU’s offense is better than MSU’s. True, the Buckeye defense made the Spartans look worse than they actually are, but it’s also clear that the MSU offense is a step down in quality from the Bucks.’

Don’t project your confusion onto others. Yes, OSU’s offense largely overcame MSU’s defense. The point is, that’s much easier to do than to overcome OSU’s defense, which is what the MSU offense was tasked with. The fact that the OSU and MSU offenses were playing against different defenses, makes direct comparison of their offensive production meaningless.

“Not sure if you knew this (it wasn’t advertised), but coming into the matchup last week, MSU had the #3 defense in the Big Ten, with numbers very close to Penn State’s.”

Whether MSU’s defense is “very, very good” is debateable, but regardless, that is completely different from your original point. And I’d assume that, whatever your opinion of MSU’s defense, you’d agree that OSU’s defense is substantially better. Therefore, you can’t meaningfully compare MSU’s offensive production last week to OSU’s, any more than you can compare Temple’s offensive production last week to MSU’s, and conclude that Temple has the better offense.

Not sure if you knew this (it wasn’t advertised), but coming into the matchup last week, MSU had the #3 defense in the Big Ten, with numbers very close to Penn State’s.

This included a horrendous game against NW, which is the only reason their stats were skewed in the first place. Against their other six opponents, MSU was performing at a top-five level. Their defense was a good one, which was proven by the fact that it rallied to score 14 points when the team was down. Not an elite defense, but a very, very good one nonetheless.

It would be hard for ESPN to hype up a game if they stated that tOSU is by far #1.

As for tiglath, you need some reading comprehenson skills.

The OSU offense outperformed MSU’s offense. Period.

And, offensive production is based on how well you overcome the other teams defense. OSU’s offense clearly overcame MSU’s defense.

Wells had more yards rushing than the whole Spartan had offense. Boeckman had more yards passing than the whole MSU offense as well.

MSU has a good defense, but not one of the top 15 defense’s so far. Either way, they had a top 15 offense, until they met the Buckeyes.

And, many pundits predicted that MSU would upset the Bucks. No way that was going to happen. We dominated the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game. And scored when we needed too.

Don’t forget, Tressel called the dogs off early, because Dantonio is a good friend of his.

Seriously? The fact that the OSU defense shut down the MSU offense obviously says absolutely nothing about the OSU offense. This weekend, the OSU offense had an ok game against a mediocre defense. People want to see how they do against an above-average defense. Next weekend, they’ll get their chance.