EAST LANSING – Jonathan Smith showed Michigan State football has changed. A lot.

Even though the gap between the Spartans and No. 3 Ohio State remains extremely wide.

MSU absorbed the Buckeyes’ body blows early, countering with a promising offense that committed costly turnovers. Eventually, the disparity in depth and talent wore down the Spartans, and Ohio State pulled away to a 38-7 victory Saturday night.

It was the Buckeyes' ninth straight win over the Spartans, coming by a combined score of 358-84.

Quarterback Aidan Chiles finished 13-for-19 for 167 yards with a touchdown and a third-quarter interception. MSU (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) managed just 47 rushing yards and got outgained 483-246 by the Buckeyes.

The Spartans were in it early, matching firepower offensively with Chiles, before their mistakes and lack of depth caught up to them repeatedly.

"That's a good football team, well-coached. I thought they played hard. Talented, kind of as we expected," Smith said of Ohio State. "I do think in the first half, we did not help ourselves. It was just self-inflicted. ...

"I did tell our team I didn't feel like there was a bunch of snaps out there that we were just overwhelmed. 'Oh, they got too much talent, they're too physical.' That's a really good team, one of the best teams in the country. But I'm trying to encourage our guys that we can go toe-to-toe — if we can finish off some things and get back to some details on ball security and getting off the field on third down."

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OSU quarterback Will Howard was 21-for-31 for 244 yards, two TDs and an interception. Star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith had a touchdown catch and another scoring run, while Emeka Egbuka caught seven passes for 96 yards and another score for the Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0).

Ohio State finished with a 35:41-24:19 time of possession advantage, a 3-1 takeaway margin and went 5-for-5 in the red zone to MSU's 1-for-3. The Buckeyes also converted 8 of 17 times on third down and 3 of 4 on fourth down. They also sacked Chiles four times, while the Spartans did not have one and struggled to get pressure the entire game.

"I think we did what we wanted to do, make them drive the field. And they just made too many plays," linebacker Cal Haladay said. "And on defense, we gotta make some plays, too."

MSU now gets a short week to prepare for its next game, a cross-country road trip to No. 7 Oregon for a 9 p.m. ET kickoff at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon (Fox).

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Keeping it close

The twists and turns of the first half showed MSU, unlike the previous four meetings, could be far more competitive and aggressive. But it also showed how thin the Spartans’ margin for error with this team is.

MSU’s defense kept the Buckeyes out of the end zone on the first drive, forcing a 30-yard Jayden Fielding field goal after a time-consuming 11-play, 63-yard drive.

The Spartans quickly countered on offense, getting into Ohio State territory. Chiles’ pass to Jaron Glover came up a yard short on third down at the 20, and the offense quickly returned to the line of scrimmage. Chiles tried to dive over the pile on a sneak, but Buckeyes linebacker Cody Simon met him midair and stuffed him for no gain and a turnover on downs.

That’s when things started to get weird.

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Aided by a questionable late hit out of bounds flag on MSU safety Malik Spencer, Howard marched OSU deep into Spartan territory again. The first oddity came between quarters, when refs reviewed and determined the Buckeyes did not get their first-down play off before time expired. That negated MSU’s defensive stuff of running back Quinshon Judkins for no gain and gave OSU a first-and-goal to start the second quarter instead of second down.

Cornerback Ed Woods knocked a second-down pass free that was ruled incomplete at the goal line, then Spencer dropped a potential interception in the end zone the next play. The free down benefitted the Buckeyes, with Howard hitting tight end Gee Scott Jr. for a 3-yard touchdown on fourth down in front of Spencer for a 10-0 lead just 56 seconds into the period.

Chiles again moved MSU into OSU territory, hitting Jack Velling on a slant and the tight end dashed to the Buckeyes’ 10. But before going down, Velling got stripped from behind by OSU’s Jordan Hancock and Sonny Styles recovered it to end the Spartans’ threat.

Linebacker Jordan Turner then made a nice play to pick off Howard and returned it deep into OSU territory. The Spartans took advantage as Glover caught Chiles’ quick throw and outraced a defender to the left pylon. Jonathan Kim’s extra point cut the deficit to 10-7.

After an 18-yard Jeremiah Smith touchdown run on an end-around rebuilt the Buckeyes’ 10-point lead, Chiles again led the Spartans into OSU territory.

But Chiles fumbled and the Buckeyes recovered at their own 16, though refs missed a grab of Chiles’ facemask by Ohio State’s Tywone Malone before the ball came loose.

Two plays later, Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson appeared to fumble deep in his own territory after a catch, and Turner recovered for MSU. But a replay review confirmed Henderson’s forearm was down before he fumbled, and the Buckeyes kept possession.

Pulling away

The Spartans forced a punt but went three-and-out on the next drive, giving OSU the ball back with good field position and 1:13 to go before half. Freshman phenom Smith made two one-handed catches on the ensuing drive, including a 17-yard highlight reel touchdown from backup QB Devin Brown that sent the Buckeyes into halftime with a hard-fought 24-7 lead.

The Spartans were outgained, 319-186, and allowed OSU to convert four of eight third downs and the fourth-down TD. But it was far closer at half than the last four times MSU faced the Buckeyes and got outscored 147-26 in the first half and 205-42 overall.

It did not take long after halftime for Ohio State to put the game away.

Chiles was nearly intercepted on the first drive of the third quarter, and the Buckeyes turned their ensuing drive after a punt into a 7-minute, 9-second drive that went 13 plays and 76 yards, capped by Howard’s 33-yard TD pass to Egbuka on a fourth-and-5 crossing route. Chiles did get intercepted on MSU’s ensuing drive deep in OSU territory, and Howard needed just three plays and dashed in for a 6-yard TD run that made it 38-7 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.

The Buckeyes converted 6 of 12 third-down attempts and all three times they went for it on fourth down in the first three quarters before the backups took over for both teams.

Glover, who caught four passes for 53 yards, missed the previous two games with an injury. MSU offensive lineman Stanton Ramil was questionable and dressed but did not play, and the Spartans used true freshman Rakeem Johnson for much of the game and classmate Rustin Young as his replacement.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State falls apart after early chance, loses 38-7 vs Ohio State