The old saying that “speed kills” is applied mainly to driving cars at unreasonable speeds

But speed also kills on the football field — a fact that Michigan State’s team found about last Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.

The Spartans, who are a pretty fair defensive team, appeared to be stuck in the mud as OSU runners and pass receivers raced around their edges with startling ease.

The 34-10 beatdown was positive proof that the hated Buckeyes are the team to beat in BIG 10, or whatever they call it nowadays.

I think only Wisconsin even has a shot at beating Ohio State, which resembles a SEC team, the rest of the way.

The Badgers have a great tailback in Jonathan Taylor, who can put up points behind the usually massive offensive line down in Madison.

But the main thing going for UW is that they have the ability to control the clock. And keeping the football away from Ohio State is paramount.

Michigan, which showed some life last week against Iowa, may think it has a chance against Ohio State in the season finale in Ann Arbor.

But 110,000 screaming fans aren’t enough to slow down this juggernaut. A large snow storm is the only realistic chance.

The Wolverines have an offense that is sickly, partly because quarterback Shea Patterson has digressed from a year ago.

And the UM defense isn’t nearly good enough to stop the invaders from Ohio.

Coach Jim Harbaugh’s job at Michigan almost certainly is riding on the results of this season.

The earlier lopsided loss to Wisconsin was damaging and had many Walmart Wolverines ready to jump off the Maize and Blue ship.

And there are very tough games versus Notre Dame, Penn State, and, yes, Michigan State before the final showdown.

There are no Middle Tennessee’s, Army’s or Rutger’s to fall back on.

I think the Wolverines will likely finish up with four losses and end up in a minor bowl on New Year’s day.

The same fate likely awaits Michigan State, which can’t afford many more stumbles if it wants a bowl of any importance.

Not a good outlook for grid fans in the state.