Ohio State and Michigan State have solidified themselves as two of the top programs in the National Club Football Association’s Great Lakes Conference.
For the fourth straight year, both teams have qualified for the conference title game and will meet in Columbus on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. to play for the 2025 conference crown.
The two teams met in the 2025 regular season as part of the Great Lakes Conference’s new crossover format, which pits the top team from each division the previous year in a regular season game the following season. Ohio State won 45-7 in Week 2 of the 2025 NCFA season over the Spartans, but since that loss, MSU has rattled off four straight wins by a combined score of 168-9 and picked up a forfeit victory as well, and now sit at 5-1 on the year. The Buckeyes, who are 7-0, are currently riding the NCFA’s longest active winning streak, having won 10 in a row dating back to last year’s conference title game which was forfeit by the Spartans.
Michigan State’s five-game winning streak has seen them become the most dominant rushing team in the NCFA as two of their players rank in the top-8 of the league in rushing yards. Running back Elijah Taylor has carried 83 times for 608 yards and five touchdowns while Malik Sherrill, the reigning NCFA Offensive Player of the Week, has carried 23 times for 275 and four touchdowns. Sherrill has also caught five passes for 146 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He scored all three of MSU’s touchdowns in a 24-0 win over Oakland in the Great Lakes West Division title game and posted over 100-yards receiving and over 100-yards rushing on the day.
While the running game has been the feature of the Spartan offense, the Michigan State passing game has improved over the last month of the season. After starting quarterback Andres Kent completed just 36% of his passes for 180 yards and just one touchdown in his first three games, he has rebounded in his last two games, completing 12-of-23 passes for 249 yards and five touchdowns to zero interceptions in games against Loyola Chicago and Oakland. In the victory over the Grizzlies, Kent completed 7-of-15 passes for a season-high 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a game that was played in a blizzard. On the year, Kent has accounted for seven total touchdowns and four interceptions.
Defensively, the Spartan’s have surrendered just nine points in four games played since the early season loss to the Buckeyes. That stretch has been led by a pair of NCFA Defensive Player’s of the Week, linebacker Juan Gomez and defensive back Adam Hubbard. Gomez leads Michigan State with 30 total tackles and a sack to his name while Hubbard leads his team in interceptions with three to go along with 15 solo tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
On the Ohio State side, the Buckeyes are attempting to complete their first undefeated season since 2019. Quarterback Niko Pappas is putting together a historic season, and has accumulated 32 touchdowns in just six games this season. The senior from Avon, Ohio has completed 85-of-129 passes for 1,139 yards and 20 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He leads the league in completion percentage and passing touchdowns and is second in passing yardage. On the ground, Pappas is third in the NCFA in rushing, having accumulated 523 yards on 56 carries. He leads the league in rushing touchdowns with 12, five of which came in the season-opener against George Mason.
Pappas has had multiple weapons to get the ball to this season as three Buckeyes rank in the top-10 of the NCFA in receiving yards. Senior Ricardo Washington leads the league in all major receiving categories having hauled in 25 passes for 400 yards and eight touchdowns on the season, despite having not played the second half of his last two games. Junior Desean Bonte is fourth in the NCFA in receiving yards with 293 on 18 receptions and five touchdowns while senior Charlie Harlow is second in the NCFA in receptions with 20 to go along with 196 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tight ends Aidan Donovan and Tommy Delaney have combined for 17 receptions for 230 yards and four touchdowns while a program record nine different players have caught touchdown passes this season.
On the ground, Ohio State’s three-headed monster at running back – Milan Jackson, Ethan Young and Lucas Fenstermaker – has combined for 520 yards rushing and seven total touchdowns this season. Despite sharing the workload in the offensive backfield, the Buckeye backs all provide a different skillset that has made the Buckeye offense a tough one to stop. Ohio State is averaging 50.5 points per game this season, despite not having played a full game all year. Each of Ohio State’s games against non-NCAA opponents this season have featured a running clock in the second half and the Buckeye win over Ohio Wesleyan JV featured 12-minute quarters.
Defensively, Ohio State is led by freshman linebacker Tyler Siegel who has posted a team-high 45 total tackles on the season to go along with a sack and a fumble recovery. Six different Buckeyes have collected an interception in 2025 as Ohio State’s defense has posted at least one INT in every game this season and in 13 of its last 15 games dating back to 2024. Defensive end Trey Jones is second in the league in sacks with 6.5 on the year to go along with 25 total tackles and freshman cornerback Tommy Roberts III leads the team in pass breakups with seven.
The last team to complete an undefeated season in the NCFA was Central Georgia Tech in 2023, when they defeated Ohio State 29-14 in the national championship game to finish 9-0. Central Georgia Tech moved to the NJCAA following that season. There have been six teams since the NCFA’s inaugural year in 2010 that have completed undefeated seasons as national champions, with Oakland (2014, 2016), Middle Georgia State (2015), Sacred Heart (2017) and Ohio State (2019) all accomplishing the feat. Coppin State, who is playing for the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship and captured back-to-back national titles in 2012-13, is also undefeated at 7-0 this season.
The 2025 Great Lakes Conference Championship Game between Ohio State and Michigan State is set to kick off at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23 from Lincoln Tower Park in Columbus, Ohio. The winner will face the winner of Coppin State vs. Sacred Heart in the national title game on Dec. 6 in Toledo, Ohio at the Glass Bowl.
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