Big Ten Championship 2013: Live Game Grades and Analysis for Ohio State Buckeyes

Michigan State 34, Ohio State 24—FINAL

Ohio State's hopes of playing for a national title were crushed by Michigan State (12-1) in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, with the Buckeyes (12-1) also seeing their school-record 24-game win streak en/d

Final live stats can be found at NCAA.com.

Check out our grading and analysis of Ohio State's rough night below.

Position Unit	1st Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	B	C
Rushing Offense	B	B+
Passing Defense	C	C
Rushing Defense	A	B-
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	B-	C

Final game analysis for the Ohio State Buckeyes:

Pass Offense: Braxton Miller (8-of-21, 101 yards) was sacked three times in the first half and never got a rhythm going through the air. Michigan State's corners were too hard to outsmart, especially on long passes. OSU rarely tried the underneath route.

Run Offense: Miller (142 yards, 2 TDs) had his fourth straight 100-yard game, but on third- and fourth down he couldn't get the short yards. Carlos Hyde (118 yards) reached triple-digits for the eighth time in a row, but only belly play worked effectively.

Pass Defense: The Buckeyes let Connor Cook throw for a career-high 304 yards, with all three of his TD passes coming on play action. Other than C.J. Barnett jumping a route for an interception, OSU's secondary either got burned or flagged.

Run Defense: OSU allowed a rusher (Jeremy Langford) to reach 100 yards for the first time all season because it got sloppy with tackling and contain in the second half.

Special Teams: Ryan Shazier partially blocked a fourth-quarter punt, but nothing came of it. Otherwise, it was a very pedestrian and unspectacular effort in this area.

Coaching: After looking unwilling to take risks early, OSU coaches opened up the playbook and found success. But late predictability spelled doom.

First-half analysis for the Ohio State Buckeyes:

Pass Offense: Braxton Miller hasn't had many open receivers, but he found Philly Brown on a seam route for Ohio State's TD and then hooked up with TE Jeff Heuerman on a long pass to set up a late FG. He's been sacked three times, though.

Run Offense: Miller's ability to scramble on busted pass plays has been OSU's best run option. Carlos Hyde hasn't been able to get going, other than one strong run up the middle, as the line is failing to hold blocks.

Pass Defense: OSU has been fooled on a pair of play-action plays, both resulting in touchdown passes. When the Buckeyes get pressure, though, they're forcing Connor Cook to throw it away.

Run Defense: The front seven has been stellar, holding Jeremy Langford to 22 yards on 13 carries, with no run longer than eight yards—forcing Michigan State to throw more than normal.

Special Teams: The Buckeyes have been called for a kick-catch interference penalty, while Dontre Wilson lost 10 yards by choosing to bring a kickoff out of the end zone.

Coaching: Early play-calling resembled a staff uninterested in taking risks, devoid of the big-play starts OSU has had for the last two months. The playbook opened up after the Buckeyes fell behind 17 points.