Ohio State escaped Ithaca, Mich. with a 17-16 win over Michigan State on Sunday, thanks to a 37-yard field goal from Raj Venkatesh with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes, who survived 125 yards of penalties, needed a long drive backed up against their own end zone to give Venkatesh a shot to win it.
Down 16-14 with Michigan State threatening to end the game, Ohio State got a fourth down stop thanks to an interception by safety Vann Riordan at the goal line. Backed up on its own four-yard line with just 2:39 to play, Ohio State benefitted from a 12-men-on-the-field penalty that negated an interception on its first play of the drive. From there, sophomore quarterback Corbyn Aleshire, starting his first ever college game, completed passes of 22, 19, 12 and 10 yards to get Venkatesh into range, including a 4th-and-4 conversion prior to the made field goal.
Michigan State got the football back with under 30 seconds to play before freshman linebacker Dane Barcalow stepped in front of a Spartan pass, intercepting the ball and sending Ohio State home with the one-point win. It is Ohio State’s seventh-straight win against Michigan State, dating back to 2022.
Ohio State opened the game fast, thanks to a 55-yard kick return from running back Milan Jackson. Jackson rushed for 35 yards on the first two series of the game, punctuating the opening drive with a 4-yard score.
The score would remain 7-0 until the second quarter as Michigan State dominated the time of possession, but failed to reach the end zone. The Spartans got on the board with a 25-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. The Buckeyes responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that finished with a two-yard scoring run from Jackson to push the Buckeye lead to 14-3.
A 32-yard touchdown pass to Spartan wide receiver Malik Sherrill with under a minute left in the half cut the Ohio State lead to 14-10 heading into halftime.
The score remain tied throughout the third quarter and late into the fourth before Michigan State completed a 99-yard scoring drive thanks to a 78-yard touchdown run from Spartan running back Elijah Taylor with 7:11 to play. However, the Buckeyes blocked the extra point to keep the deficit at 16-14.
The ensuing Buckeye offense stalled, but the defense stiffened just enough prior to the Riordan interception before the game-winning drive.
Offensively, Ohio State struggled to move the ball on the ground. The Buckeyes had just 75 rushing yards, before an 18-yard-loss on a bad offensive snap gave them just 57 net rushing yards on the day. Jackson finished with 54 yards on nine attempts and both of the OSU touchdowns.
Having to take to the air, Aleshire completed 24-of-46 passes for 269 yards, 63 of which came on the last drive. His 24 completions tied the program record, set three times by Spencer Moore.
Aleshire’s favorite target was senior Ricardo Washington, who hauled in 10 passes for 160 yards, 51 of which came on the last drive. A jumping catch on 4th-and-4 set up the game-winning field goal attempt. DeSean Bonte contributed five catches for 49 yards and Jake Thompson chipped in six catches for 41 yards.
Ohio State keeps its NCFA-best win streak alive at 13 games dating back to the end of the 2024 season. The Buckeyes are set to return to action on Sept. 27 on the road against Pittsburgh. The Panthers, who are returning from a three-year hiatus, dropped their first game of the season on Sunday to Oakland University, 22-8.
GAME NOTES
- Venkatesh’s 37-yard game-winning field goal was the second game-winning kick in program history with under a minute remaining in the game. David Rive connected on a 34-yard field goal against George Mason in the final minutes in 2021 to give Ohio State a 29-28 win.
- Punter Damian Hanf set a new program record with a 58-yard punt in the fourth quarter.
- Ricardo Washington’s 10 receptions are the second-most in a single game in program history behind only Casey Scroggins’ 11 receptions against Denison University (JV) in 2021.
- With his 160 receiving yards, Washington passes David Cooper (601) and Geoff Green II (713) on the career receiving yards list in team history and now sits at 757. He trails only Abdou Keita (1,414) and Casey Scroggins (1,921).
- Ohio State is 6-2 under Head Coach James Grega, Jr. in one-score games dating back to 2018. The last one-score victory came in the 2024 NCFA National Championship Game, a 20-13 win over Clayton State.
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