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Indiana will be going for a bit of history Saturday in East Lansing; a win would give the Hoosiers their first nine-win season since 1967, which is also the most recent season in which they won the Big Ten and went to the Rose Bowl. Michigan State football, meanwhile, has less gaudy goals in mind: An upset of the No. 13 Hoosiers would be one more step toward a bowl berth (with winnable games against Purdue and Rutgers still on the schedule) in their first season under head coach Jonathan Smith.
Can the Spartans deny the Hoosiers their date with history, at least for one week? (They, too get to play Purdue this month.) Five Free Press sports writers have some thoughts on the topic.
Indiana’s Phillip Dunnam (6) tackles Michigan State’s Nate Carter (5) during the first half of the Indiana versus Michigan State football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
SCOUTING THE GAME: Michigan State football vs. unbeaten Indiana
Carlos Monarrez
This one could get ugly, especially if the Spartans are still dwelling on their loss to Michigan. Even if they weren’t, the 13th-ranked Hoosiers are too good to be denied their first 9-0 start in program history. The Spartans’ only chance is if IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke struggles with the thumb injury he suffered two weeks ago. The pick: Indiana 36, MSU 20.
Rainer Sabin
The results aren’t always there. But Michigan State is starting to effectively implement Jonathan Smith’s formula of complementary football. The fact that the Spartans dominated time of possession and outrushed Iowa and Michigan in the last two games speaks to that. If MSU can continue to control the ball and win at the line of scrimmage against Indiana, it has a chance to pull the upset.
At the very least, the Spartans will be able to hang with the Hoosiers, who rank second in the nation in scoring offense. On Saturday, expect MSU to gain some traction on the ground, soak up clock and make Indiana sweat until the final minutes. But in the end, the Hoosiers…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-football-picks-vs-100149921.html
Author : Detroit Free Press
Publish date : 2024-11-02 10:01:00
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