The Michigan State Spartans hit the road this weekend to take on Rutgers in their season finale. The Spartans are currently 8-3 (6-2 Big Ten), and are ranked No. 16 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
With a win on Saturday, they will have flipped their record from 3-9 a year ago to 9-3 this season. This type of turnaround has head coach Mark Dantonio listed as a semifinalist for the ‘George Munger Coach of the Year’ award.
Rutgers is much improved from a year ago, as they enter this game with a record of 4-7 (3-5 Big Ten). Last year, the Scarlet Knights finished the season with just two wins on the season, dropping all nine of their conference games. They won’t be going to a bowl game this season, but they’ve still made huge strides.
Here are three keys to Michigan State coming out on top in their season finale:
DON’T OVERLOOK THE OPPONENT
It’s easy to see the name ‘Rutgers’ on your schedule, and go into the game not prepared to play. While most other top teams are playing in prominent games this weekend, the Spartans will face their second straight underwhelming opponent.
Last week the Spartans won an ugly 17-7 contest over Maryland, with the weather playing a big factor. Chances are, the weather conditions won’t be the most favorable this weekend either, potentially making it another ugly game. If this was last season, the Spartans would be able to sleep walk through this game. Last year’s 3-9 team beat Rutgers decisively, 49-0; it was their only Big Ten win on the season.
But this year the Scarlet Knights are much improved in many areas. Running back Gus Edwards has ran for 703 yards and six touchdowns on the season, and the defense is giving up a little under 400 yards a game, which is a solid improvement from last season. Rutgers also owns three wins over Big Ten opponents this season, which is more than quality teams like Indiana and Minnesota.
All that being said, it’s going to be a challenge to get up for this game. The Spartans need to make sure that they’re mentally ready to play.
STOP THE RUN
If there has been one major weakness for the Scarlet Knights this season, it has been the passing game. Rutgers has used a trio of different quarterbacks, just looking for someone to provide a spark. The Scarlet Knights currently are throwing for just a little over 117 yards per game, which is by far the worst in the Big Ten.
That makes stopping the run a point of emphasis for the Spartans, who should try to force Rutgers into having to throw the ball. Michigan State has been stout against the run all season, giving up just a little over 100 yards on the ground per contest, and that includes allowing north of 330 yards on the ground to Ohio State.
Rutgers running back Gus Edwards can be a handful to stop if he can get some blocks and get out into the open field, as he has busted out a couple of runs over 70 yards during the last two seasons.
It’s going to be important for the Spartans to take away that aspect of the Rutgers offense.
GET THE PASSING GAME GOING AGAIN
It doesn’t feel like that long ago when folks were saying that quarterback Brian Lewerke was looking like the best quarterback in the Big Ten. Lewerke had just passed for over 400 yards in consecutive games against Northwestern and Penn State, and the Spartans’ pass offense was looking like a thing of beauty. Not only was Lewerke playing outstanding football, but his group of young wide receivers seemed to be catching everything thrown their way.
Boy, has that ever changed. It started with the Ohio State game when Lewerke completed just 18/36 of his passes, while only throwing for 131 yards and tossing two picks. Last week against Maryland was much worse, completing just two of his 14 pass attempts for 20 yards against a suspect defense. Now granted, the weather conditions did play a big part in that, but it still felt like the Spartans should have been able to throw much better than that. The Terrapins didn’t seem to have that much trouble moving the ball through the air.
That brings us to Saturday. Rutgers will give up yards, both through the air and on the ground. However, it’s hard to win when you’re completely one-dimensional. Michigan State needs to be able to get back to throwing the ball so the Scarlet Knights can’t just put eight men in the box, and key in on Spartan running back LJ Scott.
Even if Michigan State can find a way to win without much from the passing game in this one, it would still help immensely if they can get that confidence back in throwing the ball heading into their bowl game, where they will likely be facing a tough opponent in a warm weather climate where the other team will be able to do more than just run the ball too.
Confidence is a key to anything and everything, and right now the Spartans don’t have enough confidence in their passing game. That needs to change on Saturday.
GAMEDAY INFO
- DATE: Saturday, November 25
- KICKOFF: 4 p.m. ET on FOX
- LINE: MSU -13.5
- O/U: 40
DSN STAFF PREDICTIONS
| DSN STAFF | PREDICTION |
| LUKE BOWKER | MSU, 27-17 |
| AUSTIN HEMMINGSON | MSU, 31-14 |
| ALEXANDER MULLER | MSU, 30-13 |
| AARON NUSBAUM | MSU, 31-10 |
