Justin Fields Powers No. 4 Ohio State to Commanding 52-12 Win over MSU

No. 4 Ohio State moved one step closer to the Big Ten Championship Game with a 52-12 victory over Michigan State on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

The Buckeyes must play next week's game against rival Michigan to reach the six-game threshold necessary to qualify for the conference title game, barring a rule change. Otherwise they're in the driver's seat to win the East division with a 5-0 record and the tiebreaker over second-place Indiana (5-1).

OSU won Saturday's contest without head coach Ryan Day on the sideline because of COVID-19 protocols. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson led the team on an interim basis.

Michigan State, which upset No. 8 Northwestern last week, couldn't shake up the College Football Playoff race for a second straight week. The Spartans dropped to 2-4 amid one of the conference's toughest schedules with four games against ranked opponents.

Notable Performances

QB Justin Fields (OSU): 17-of-24 for 199 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT; 104 rushing yards, 2 TD

QB Payton Thorne (MSU): 16-of-25 for 147 yards, 1 INT; 42 rushing yards, 1 TD

RB Trey Sermon (OSU): 112 rushing yards, 1 TD

WR Chris Olave (OSU): 139 receiving yards, 1 TD

WR Garrett Wilson (OSU): 59 receiving yards, 1 TD

DL Haskell Garrett (OSU): 3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

DL Tyreke Smith (OSU): 3 tackles, 1 sack

DL Michael Fletcher (MSU): 4 tackles, 2 sacks

Justin Fields Shines Despite Shaky Line Play

It wasn't the sharpest day for the Ohio State offense following a major shake up along the offensive line because of COVID-19, including the absence of left tackle Thayer Munford.

Fields was forced to improvise amid frequent pressure in the backfield, but the Heisman Trophy contender was up to the task with both his legs and his arm.

While he was once again lethal on runs from within the 5-yard line, a stable of his success, he also showed perfect touch on his first-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Garrett Wilson. He had to roll out to his right and lofted a perfectly placed pass between defenders for the score.

In addition, he deserves a lot of credit for throwing a lot of balls away when there was pressure and no open receivers. The only path to an upset Michigan State had after falling behind 14-0 was a couple of key turnovers, and Fields made sure that didn't happen.

The Heisman race has been tougher to forecast this season because of the uneven number of games and some players going multiple weeks without getting a chance to bolster their resumes, as was the case for Fields, who had played just once since Nov. 8 before Saturday.

He should at least move back toward the forefront of the conversation alongside a host of other quarterbacks—Alabama's Mac Jones, Florida's Kyle Trask, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and BYU's Zach Wilson—after helping OSU avoid potential disaster given its large number of absences Saturday.

The Buckeyes need two more performances like that from their quarterback, next week against the Wolverines and then in the Big Ten title game, to secure a likely CFP berth.

Michigan State Offense Fails to Keep Pace

The Spartans scored a season-high 29 points in last week's win over Northwestern. Rocky Lombardi threw for two touchdowns, while Lombardi, Connor Heyward and Elijah Collins combined to rush for 195 yards as they wore down the Wildcats defense.

Michigan State couldn't find nearly as much success against a more athletic OSU defense.

The team's eight first-half possessions resulted in six punts and a pair of turnovers, including a pick-six in the end zone by Haskell Garrett, and only one of those drives lasted more than four plays.

Lombardi was replaced late in the second quarter after taking a hard hit on a sack by Tyreke Smith.

Payton Thorne provided a nice spark for MSU off the bench by completing his first 11 passes and scoring on a 20-yard run, but it was too little, too late for the underdogs.

The Spartans aren't built to win a shootout, which made giving up a 12-play touchdown drive on OSU's first possession and 14 points in the first quarter a tough mountain to overcome.

Thorne showed enough promising signs to warrant a start next week, though.

What's Next?

Ohio State returns home to the Horseshoe to face off with Michigan in the 117th edition of The Game next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on Fox.

Michigan State finishes its regular season with a trip to Beaver Stadium to battle Penn State. A start time for that matchup, also scheduled for next Saturday, hasn't been announced.