COLUMBUS, Ohio - 237, 270, 306, 227 and 386. Those are the team rushing totals in each of Ohio State’s first five games of the season. At seventh in the nation in rushing yards per game (282.2) and fifth in the nation in yards per carry (6.1), the running game for Ohio State has been one of its best units after a down 2018 campaign.

The defense that Ohio State has gone up against this season have not provided much of a challenge, either. Cincinnati is giving up the fewest rushing yards per game of the Buckeyes’ first five opponents, and they’re only ranked 45th nationally, so while the running backs have looked impressive thus far, they’ll be facing their first real challenge this season when they go up against the vaunted rushing defense of Michigan State.

The Spartans are only giving up 1.9 yards for carry, tied for best in the nation, and are only allowing opponents to average 56.4 yard per game, so Michigan State stands up as not only the best defense Ohio State has played so far, but possibly one of the best they’ll face all season with Wisconsin’s stout defense looming on the horizon.

This will be a big week for J.K. Dobbins and Master Teague III who have impressed in pretty much every game this season. Dobbins is averaging over 130 yards per game and 7.1 yards per carry while his backup Teague, working on almost half as many carries, is up to 326 yards on 6.3 yards per carry. Despite the strong early performances by the dynamic running back duo, Ryan Day expects the Spartans to have an answer to these two Buckeyes on the ground.

“Yeah, they have a defensive system that has been challenged for years and years, so they have answers. So if you run a play against them, they have the answer right away. They're really good at knowing what the defense is,” Day said. “They're not super complicated, but they have answers to everything that you do. So the minute you run a play, they're on top of it and they've got it defended the next play. These are guys who have played in this system for a while and there are coaches who have coached in this system for a while, so it's a tremendous challenge.”

The rushing defense for Michigan State may force Ohio State’s offense to become a little more one-dimensional than they’ve been in most games this season, but this is something that the staff has been preparing Justin Fields for.

While the Spartan passing defense may not be as prolific as their results in the trenches, they’re still a top 40 passing defense in the nation and are allowing fewer than 200 yards through the air per game, so this will be another test for Fields and the offense as they may be forced to take to the air more often than they’ve been comfortable with so far this season.

“Do the best you can to teach him the style of defense and system of defense and give him a good clean game plan where he can play,” Day said, “and then he has to learn as time goes along the adjustments they're making and anticipate what the defense is going to do the best you can.”

Fields has had plenty of time during practice and in the middle of the week to make adjustments, but in-game adjustments are something he hasn’t had to work with that much this season. Simply put, things have looked easy outside of a brief offensive lull in week one against Florida Atlantic.

The focus this week won’t just be on preparing Fields for Michigan State’s defense, but making sure he isn’t getting complacent himself with how easily the scoring has come for Ohio State’s offense.

“No, I don't think you hold back. I think you have to be aggressive. You can't not be aggressive. That's kind of the way we are. We like to be aggressive. But he's got to -- he can't just go into the game and think he's all set,” Day said. “All of a sudden he's played in a few games here and he's going to go against a great defense and just start going away from what's got him to this point. That's discipline. That's being tough, making those decisions. And I think he's done a good job of that.”