No. 11 Ohio State 49, No. 6 Michigan State 37: J.T. Barrett passed for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 86 yards and two scores as the visiting Buckeyes earned the inside track to the Big Ten title game.

Ezekiel Elliott anchored the ground attack with 154 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Ohio State (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten). Devin Smith caught six passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and Michael Thomas finished with three receptions for 91 yards and a score for the Buckeyes, who broke their own Big Ten record with their 21st consecutive regular-season conference victory.

Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford matched Elliott nearly carry for carry most of the game before finishing with 137 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Connor Cook completed 25-of-45 for 358 yards and touchdowns to Josiah Price and Keith Mumphery for the Spartans (7-2, 4-1).

Michigan State scored two touchdowns on its first six plays and Ohio State scored two touchdowns on its last six plays of the opening half, resulting in a 28-21 lead at intermission for the Buckeyes. A major turning point came late in the second quarter when an 11-yard touchdown run by Langford was negated by a holding penalty, Michael Geiger missed a 39-yard field goal and the Buckeyes scored on their next offensive play, a 79-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Thomas to tie the score at 21.

Geiger connected from 40 yards out to start the second half but then the floodgates opened for Ohio State as Elliott scored on a 1-yard run on Ohio State’s first drive and the Buckeyes stopped Michigan State on fourth down at the Buckeyes’ 36-yard line. Ohio State came back with a six-play drive capped by Barrett’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Dontre Wilson for a 42-24 lead with 12:07 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Mumphery, a senior WR, scored his only TD of 2012 and first of his career against the Buckeyes, had a career-high 84 receiving yards and a touchdown against Ohio State last season and scored just his second TD of the season Saturday night against the Buckeyes. … Geiger’s missed FG late in the first half was his fourth straight miss dating back to the Purdue game Oct. 11. … Langford has rushed for at least 100 yards in 13 consecutive conference games.