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EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) -- No. 19 Michigan State put forth a dominating defensive effort and posted a convincing 23-7 victory over 20th-ranked Ohio State in an important Big Ten Conference battle. Bill Burke threw a pair of touchdown passes in a 17-point second-quarter outburst and Paul Edinger booted three field goals as the Spartans (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) rebounded from back-to-back embarrassing losses to get back into the hunt for a post-New Year's bowl game. "I know it was probably a boring game to watch, but we planned it that way," said Michigan State coach Nick Saban. "We thought it would be really important for us to win this game on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball." Ohio State (6-4, 3-3) ran three plays or less on nine consecutive possessions and the Spartans began almost all of their drives with excellent field position due to the poor performance from Buckeyes punter Dan Stultz. The Buckeyes rushed for zero yards and had just 81 total yards. "It says a lot for our football team and our football players to accomplish things like this," added Saban. "The conditions out there today probably weren't great for playing offensive football, especially for throwing the football because the wind more than anything else can affect the quarterbacks." Ohio State's only points came after a turnover and two penalties allowed it to start from the Michigan State 3-yard line. Despite going backwards at first, Steve Bellisari hit running back Michael Wiley for a four-yard score 7 1/2 minutes into the third quarter to bring the Buckeyes within 17-7. "What you saw today was just a good old-fashioned butt-kicking," said Ohio State coach John Cooper. "The game was not as close as the score indicates. We couldn't do anything on offense. Their blitzing killed us on defense and our special teams were horrible. Our team couldn't kick, pass or rush. We simply got embarrassed." Edinger connected from 33 yards with two minutes remaining in the period and was good from the same distance on the first play of the final quarter to put away the game. Burke completed 15-of-24 passes for 174 yards with one interception for the Spartans, who ruined Ohio State's dreams of a national championship last season with a 28-24 victory over the then-unbeaten Buckeyes in Columbus. "From our perspective on offense, we were just going to run the football and establish the tone of the game, physically and up front," Burke said. "When you do that, the game tends to be a little bit boring because you don't see the big plays or the long plays." After a scoreless first quarter, Michigan State got the first points 4:14 into the second on Edinger's 35-yrd field goal. The Buckeyes went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and a poor punt by Stutlz gave the Spartans control at the Ohio State 45. Seven plays later Burke lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone for a wide open Plaxico Burress, who hauled in the 17-yard pass to make it 10-0. Burress caught seven passes for 81 yards. Lloyd Clemons led the Spartans on the ground with 91 yards on 20 carries. "The week off gave us a chance to get focused," said Clemons. "We just had to get our spirits back and the coaches helped us concentrate on the basics and go back to the beginning. We knew that we could be the team that was 6-0, but we just didn't play like that (against Purdue and Wisconsin)." Another three-and-out followed for Ohio State and it took the Spartans four plays to move to 48 yards to the Buckeyes 1. Ohio State's defense stiffened and stopped the Spartans on three straight plays. But on 4th-and-goal Burke rolled left, escaped a tackle by safety Gary Berry, and hit tight end Chris Baker for a touchdown with 1:17 to play in the first half. What happened next summed up the afternoon, and possibly the season, as Bellisari lofted a beautiful pass down the middle of the field to a wide open Ken-Yon Rambo, who was thinking touchdown but dropped the ball. Cornerback Ahmed Plummer's interception of Burke and a personal foul penalty on Michigan State set up Bellisari's touchdown pass to Wiley, but Michigan State went 12 plays on its next possession and Edinger booted his first 33-yard field goal. On the first play of Ohio State's next drive, safety Richard Newsome picked off Bellisari and set the stage again for Edinger. Cooper then turned to Austin Moherman, but the sophomore quarterback was unable to do much better than Bellisari, who completed just 5-of-16 passes for 61 yards. Moherman was 1-of-7 for 18 yards and Wiley was held to 23 yards on 12 carries. "We're just not playing as well as we ought to be playing right now," added Cooper. "I'm the head coach so I take responsibility." It is the first time since 1965 that Michigan State has beaten Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State in the same season. "For our team to beat Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State in the same year is something they should be proud of," said Saban. It's some that I'm proud of them doing. It's good for our program."
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