Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, December 6, 2013
In less than 24 hours Michigan State and Ohio State will take the field to face off in the 2013 Big Ten Football Championship Game. There is plenty at stake. For now, let's take a look at some numbers on both sides of the ball for both sides starting with this one: Ohio State and Michigan State have played six common foes in 2013. They are Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana and Purdue. The Buckeyes? total margin of victory in those tilts is 130; MSU?s margin was 126.
Here's a look at some more interesting figures leading up to Saturday night's game.
Michigan State is the first Big Ten team to win all eight league games by double-digits since the conference went to an eight-game schedule in 1971. And MSU is the first unbeaten Big Ten club to win all of its league games by double-figures since Michigan in 1943 (6-0).
Ohio State is 14-5 all-time in indoor games. The Buckeyes haven?t played indoors since the 2011 Sugar Bowl, when they beat Arkansas in the Superdome. Prior to that, OSU?s last game under a roof was in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl vs. Texas at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Michigan State never has won 12 games in a season. The Spartans have posted double-digit win total five times.
Mark Dantonio is 1-3 vs. Ohio State as Michigan State coach.
Ohio State has won eight of the last nine meetings vs. Michigan State. And the Buckeyes took the last meeting, a 17-16 decision in East Lansing on Sept. 29, 2012.
Mark Dantonio spent three seasons as Ohio State defensive coordinator from 2001-03 under Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes won the BCS title after the 2002 season.
The Buckeyes are one of two FBS schools that haven?t allowed a 100-yard rushing in 2013. Syracuse is the other.
MSU won shares of the Big Ten title in 2010 and 1990. But the Spartans haven?t been to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl since after the 1987 season.
Ohio State has 39 sacks; no school in the nation has more.
Urban Meyer is the first head coach at the highest level of the collegiate ranks to have three winning streaks of at least 20 games.
This is Michigan State?s first game as a top-10 team vs. a top-10 team since the 2000 Citrus Bowl, a 37-34 win over Florida. Bobby Williams coached that game after Nick Saban had left to coach LSU.
At 530.5 yards per game, Ohio State has set a school record with 6,366 total yards through 12 games. That breaks the old standard of 6,222 set in 1995 behind a squad led by Heisman winner Eddie George.
The Spartans? 40 wins since 2010 are the most in the Big Ten in that span. MSU is 40-12 since the beginning of 2010.
MSU is one of only eight schools to have had at least one player chosen every year since the inception of the common NFL draft in 1967. The others: Arizona State; Florida; Michigan; Nebraska; Tennessee; Texas; USC.
Mark Dantonio was Michigan State DB coach in 1998 when the Spartans upset 8-0 and No. 1 ranked Ohio State in Columbus.
Most Big Ten wins since 2008
- Ohio State 40
- Michigan State 35
- Penn State 33
- Wisconsin 32
- Iowa 26
- Northwestern 22
- Michigan 21
- Nebraska 17
- Minnesota 16
- Purdue 15
- Illinois 12
- Indiana 8
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About Tom Dienhart | BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section. |
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