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Michigan State Welcomes No. 3 Ohio State To Spartan Stadium For A Big Ten Showdown

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Football

Michigan State returns home to host No. 3/3 Ohio State on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. The game will be streamed live exclusively on Peacock with Andrew Siciliano (play-by-play), Colt McCoy (analyst) and Lewis Johnson (sidelines) on the call.

The Spartans (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) gave up a late fourth-quarter touchdown with 1:28 remaining to fall at Boston College, 23-19, last Saturday night at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. MSU opened the season with a home win over Florida Atlantic, 16-10, and started Big Ten play with a 27-24 victory at Maryland on Sept. 7. The Spartans shut out Prairie View A&M on Sept. 14 in East Lansing, 40-0.

Saturday's game will be the 53rd meeting between Michigan State and Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series, 37-15, including a 19-5 mark in East Lansing. MSU is looking for its first win over Ohio State since 2015, when the Spartans beat the No. 2 Buckeyes, 17-14, at Ohio Stadium en route to winning the Big Ten Championship and earning a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The Spartans have toppled Ohio State 10 times when the Buckeyes entered the game ranked in the AP Top 25, including five times when the Buckeyes were ranked in the top five (No. 5 in 1972, No. 1 in 1974, No. 1 in 1998, No. 2 in 2013, No. 2 in 2015) and seven in the top 10 (previous five games listed plus No. 7 in 1951 and No. 9 in 1971).

Through the first four games, the Spartan defense ranks among the FBS leaders in sacks (tied for second with 15; 3.75 pg), red zone defense (tied for fifth at .556), team tackles for loss (tied for eighth with 32.0; 8.0 per game), total defense (14th at 254.8 ypg), scoring defense (25th at 14.3 ppg) and rushing defense (29th at 96.8 ypg). In addition, MSU leads the Big Ten in both sacks (15) and tackles for loss (32).

Jonathan Smith became the fifth MSU head coach to start 3-0 overall in his first season as the Spartans' head coach, and the first since Mark Dantonio in 2007. It marked the third year in a row Smith started the season 3-0 (2022 and 2023 at Oregon State).

Michigan State will honor Mark Dantonio, the winningest coach in school history, with the National Football Foundation On-Campus Salute during Saturday's game. Dantonio was selected for the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024 and will be officially inducted on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas. For becoming the latest Spartan in the College Football Hall of Fame, Dantonio's name will also be added to the Spartan Stadium Ring of Fame.

AIDAN CHILES OFF TO 3-1 START AS MSU'S QB1
Sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles is off to a 3-1 start as the starting quarterback for the Spartans. Chiles has completed 54 percent of his passes (63-of-116) for 891 yards (222.8 ypg), four touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Long Beach, California, native is in his first season in East Lansing after playing in a back-up role as a true freshman at Oregon State in 2023. Chiles passed for 363 yards in the win at Maryland on Sept. 7, the eighth-highest single-game total in MSU history and the most by a Spartan QB since Brian Lewerke threw for 400 in a win against Penn State in 2017.

Chiles also leads the team with three rushing touchdowns; he has a net of 95 rushing yards on 27 carries (23.8 ypg).

KAY'RON LYNCH-ADAMS, NATHAN CARTER PACE SPARTANS ON THE GROUND
Sixth-year graduate transfer Kay'ron Lynch-Adams (UMass) leads the Spartans in rushing after four games, averaging 67.8 yards per game (49 carries for 271 yards; 5.5 avg., 1 TD). He surpassed the 2,000-career rushing milestone with 46 yards on 10 carries at Maryland; he now has 2,159 career rushing yards in 52 collegiate games. Redshirt junior co-captain Nathan Carter has 47 carries for 207 yards (51.8 ypg; 4.4 avg.). He had a career-long 60-yard rushing TD vs. Prairie View A&M on Sept. 14.

Lynch-Adams and Carter have combined for 71 percent of the team's rushing attempts (96 of 135).

SPARTANS LEAD BIG TEN IN TACKLES FOR LOSS AND SACKS
Michigan State leads the Big Ten in sacks (15; 3.75 pg) and tackles for loss (32.0; 8.0 pg) through the first four games of the season. MSU recorded a season-high seven sacks in the season opener against Florida Atlantic and recorded four more last Saturday at Boston College. MSU also is tied for first in the Big Ten and fifth in the FBS in red zone defense (.556; opponents 5-of-9 scoring with four stops in red zone).

SERIES NOTES
Saturday's game will be the 53rd meeting between Michigan State and Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series, 37-15, including a 19-5 mark in East Lansing. MSU is looking for its first win over Ohio State since 2015, when the Spartans beat the No. 2 Buckeyes, 17-14, at Ohio Stadium en route to winning the Big Ten Championship and earning a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The Spartans have toppled Ohio State 10 times when the Buckeyes entered the game ranked in the AP Top 25, including five times when the Buckeyes were ranked in the top five (No. 5 in 1972, No. 1 in 1974, No. 1 in 1998, No. 2 in 2013, No. 2 in 2015) and seven in the top 10 (previous five games listed plus No. 7 in 1951 and No. 9 in 1971).