Local Teams

No. 10 Ohio State maintained pace in the Big Ten East with a 26-6 win over No. 18 Michigan State in front of 74,633 in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday.

Dwayne Haskins threw for 227 yards and a touchdown for the Buckeyes (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten), who head to Maryland next week before hosting Michigan in the season finale.

Parris Campbell scored on a 1-yard reception for Ohio State, while Mike Weber added a late 2-yard touchdown run. Dre'Mont Jones recovered a fumble in the end zone for another Ohio State touchdown.

Weber finished with 104 yards rushing. Ohio State gained 347 total yards, nearly 200 yards off its average.

Michigan State's defense kept the Spartans (6-4, 4-3) in the game as long as it could, but being on the field for 37:29 took its toll.

Brian Lewerke started at quarterback for the Spartans but was again ineffective, completing 11 of 28 passes for 128 yards and an interception. He was replaced late in the second quarter by redshirt freshman Rocky Lombardi, who found some room running the ball but was 7 of 19 for 92 yards.

The Spartans gained just 54 yards on the ground, 47 coming on one run from Lombardi.

The first half was a display in punting, as each team had trouble getting the offense going until the final few minutes of second quarter. Michigan State punted five times while Ohio Stated punted the ball four times.

It wasn't until late in the half that the offenses started to find some openings. Ohio State struck first with an 11-play drive that featured some pinpoint passing from Haskins and ended with Campbell taking a short pass around the end for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead with 1:29 to play in the half.

Lombardi took over for Lewerke and led the Spartans' best drive of the game, setting up a 44-yard field goal from Matt Coghlin to cut the Ohio State lead to 7-3 with 30 seconds left in the half.

Michigan State looked like it took the lead on its second drive of the third quarter when receiver Cody White took a lateral and hit tight end Matt Sokol for a touchdown. But an ineligible receiver downfield negated the play, and the Spartans settled for a 38-yard field goal from Coghlin to cut the Buckeyes' lead to 7-6 with 5:35 left in the third quarter.

Ohio State added two points late in the quarter when Michigan took a safety, intentionally snapping the ball out of the end zone on a punt from the 1-yard line. It gave the Buckeyes a 9-6 lead with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes took advantage of a critical Michigan State mistake when a shotgun snap hit receiver Laress Nelson, who was in motion with the ball being snapped from the 2. The ball was recovered in the end zone by Jones for a Buckeyes touchdown, giving them a 16-6 lead with 14:03 left in the game.

Another fumble on MSU's next snap led to a 35-yard field goal from Blake Haubeil to put Ohio State up 19-6 with 12:22 to play. Weber scored on a 2-yard run with less than two minutes to play.

--Field Level Media