Columbus, Ohio — You can’t ever count them out, not for long, not for good. Without their starting quarterback, seemingly without a chance, the Spartans did what they do, which is to pound away at all opponents, real and perceived.
This was brutish and brilliant, and it might have been the finest moment of Mark Dantonio’s career. Michigan State is back in the middle of everything, not that it ever strays far away. With a staggering 17-14 victory over the Buckeyes, the Spartans took it all back — conference title chances, playoff chances, Urban Meyer’s cloak of invincibility.