COLUMBUS -- The performance was one Ohio State hopes to soon forget.
The Buckeyes came within seconds of making it historic, for all the wrong reasons.
OSU lost to Michigan State 10-7 Saturday to open the Big Ten season and narrowly escaped suffering its first shutout at home in nearly three decades.
"This is a hard one," Ohio State senior defensive back Tyler Moeller said. "Every loss is hard. We fought hard and came up short."
The Buckeyes had less than 100 yards of offense early in the fourth quarter and finished the day with 35 rushing yards in 39 attempts. Ohio State quarterbacks were sacked nine times for 64 yards in losses.
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OSU coach Luke Fickell said the pressure from the Spartans, who had the top statistical defense in the nation coming into the game, had the Buckeyes out of sorts all day. The Spartans made 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for 71 yards in losses by the Buckeyes.
"Sometimes they were bringing more guys than you could block," Fickell said. "We just gotta do a better job. That's ultimately what it comes down to. You don't give your quarterback much of a chance if he's getting sacked nine times."
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Ohio State (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) did not score until just 10 seconds remained in the game. Senior quarterback Joe Bauserman, who came on in relief of freshman starter Braxton Miller, hooked up with freshman wide receiver Evan Spencer with a 33-yard touchdown pass. The Buckeyes have not been held scoreless at home since a 6-0 loss to Wisconsin in the 1982 season. The last time Ohio State was shut out was in a 28-0 loss at Michigan in 1993.
"We played hard," Bauserman said. "They didn't do anything we weren't ready for. But we just seemed to miss the big play that we needed."
Miller had an opportunity for a big play with just under eight minutes left in the first half when he tried to connect with Devin Smith inside the Michigan State 10-yard line. The Spartans' Darqueze Dennard wrestled the ball away from Smith and MSU took over at the Spartans' six yardline.
As their offensive struggles continued, the Buckeyes managed just 87 total yards in the first half. The Spartans challenged Miller to beat them through the air and kept the pressure on. Miller went just 5-of-10 passing for 56 yards with an interception before Bauserman took over for the fourth quarter.
"They [Michigan State] got to the point where seven or eight guys would play to the run," Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde said. "It was more than we could handle. It's frustrating. I know our offense is good and capable of scoring points and making plays."
Michigan State senior quarterback Kirk Cousins went 20-of-32 for 250 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off twice with his team in position to score. Spartans senior wide receiver B.J. Cunningham had nine receptions for 154 yards and scored Michigan State's only touchdown.
On their second possession of the afternoon, the Spartans took just five plays to cover 65 yards. The score came when Cousins found Cunningham in the back of the end zone from 33 yards away. After Dan Conroy's extra point kick, Michigan State led 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Michigan State drove from deep in its own territory to the Ohio State 34-yard line in the third quarter, but a holding penalty helped slow the drive, and Conroy missed a 51-yard field goal try. His 50-yard field goal with about 10 minutes to play in the game ended up being the difference.
"It was a big program win for us," Michigan State coach and former Ohio State assistant Mark Dantonio said. "I thought our guys played well. We played well on special teams and defense. You have to play good defense and special teams and protect the quarterback to win. I thought we did all of those things today. "
Ohio State intercepted Cousins twice in the final quarter, with one of those coming when Ohio State defensive back C.J. Barnett grabbed a tipped ball in the end zone.
Contact Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com, 419-724-6510 or on Twitter @MattMarkey
First Published October 2, 2011, 4:54 a.m.