New champ:
Ohio State’s national title bid is likely over with a 17-14 loss to Michigan State.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The last place Michael Geiger, all 5-8 and 185 pounds of him, wanted to end up was at the bottom of a pile of Michigan State football players.
The junior kicker booted through a 41-yard field goal as time expired and then sprinted away from a swarm of celebrating Spartans after No. 9 Michigan State upset No. 2 Ohio State 17-14 on Saturday to snap the Buckeyes’ 23-game winning streak.
Geiger remembered what happened the last time Michigan State won a huge game on the final play of regulation.
“I didn’t want to pull a Jalen Watts-Jackson,” Geiger said, referring to his teammate who ended up with a broken hip after returning a botched punt for a touchdown to beat Michigan in October. “I was trying to stay on my feet as long as possible.”
Playing without injured star quarterback Connor Cook on a rainy and windy day at Ohio Stadium, the Spartans (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten, No. 9 CFP) took control of the Big Ten East, barged into the thick of the College Football Playoff hunt and very likely ended Ohio State’s chances to repeat as national champions.
“We know how to win,” coach Mark Dantonio said.
Michigan State is 6-1 in its last seven games against top-10 teams.
With a victory next week at home against Penn State the Spartans will clinch a spot in the Big Ten championship game. The last time Michigan State beat Ohio State was the 2013 Big Ten championship game and that broke a 24-game winning streak by the Buckeyes and kept them out of the BCS title game. This time they put Ohio State’s playoff hopes in critical condition.
Afterward, junior tailback Ezekiel Elliott questioned the play calling and said this would be his last home game as a Buckeye.
“I mean there’s nochance of me coming back next year. I got to make the most of my time left,” said Elliott, who ran 12 times for 33 yards and the game’s first touchdown. He had a streak of 15 straight 100-yard rushing games snapped.
Junior quarterback Cardale Jones also sent some tweets suggesting this was also his last home game.
Ohio State (10-1, 6-1) managed just 132 yards against a rugged Spartans defense and lost to a Big Ten team in the regular season for the first time since Urban Meyer became coach four seasons ago.