Michigan State has won eight of its last 10 matchups against rival Michigan for one big reason; this is the Spartans’ Super Bowl. Few things mean more in East Lansing than ruining the Wolverines’ season, especially with head coach Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor. The former UM quarterback is 1-2 against his in-state rival, and that lone victory came against a disheveled 2016 Spartan team that finished its season with a 3-9 record.
Michigan vs. Michigan State 2018 pick: Prediction, start time, and TV/live stream info
The Spartans want nothing more than to ruin Michigan’s playoff hopes.
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The stakes will be higher when No. 6 Michigan makes the hour-long drive northwest to face off with No. 24 Michigan State Saturday. Another loss to the Spartans would effectively crush Harbaugh’s College Football Playoff hopes.
The Wolverines are 6-1 on the season, and their only loss came against an undefeated, fourth-ranked Notre Dame team on the road. Handling Michigan State — a team who barely squeaked by Utah State in its season opener and lost to underwhelming Arizona State and Northwestern teams en route to a 4-2 record — would clear another hurdle in a back-loaded schedule full of them. But the Spartans are still dangerous, as last week’s upset win over then-No. 8 Penn State proved, and they’ll bring nothing but intensity in the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
Michigan vs. Michigan State prediction:
The Wolverines beat the crap out of Wisconsin, and now they’re up to No. 4 in this week’s S&P+ Rankings. The Spartans upset the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley, and that boosted them from 31st to, uh, 33rd (and Penn State didn’t move at all. Math!). That suggests an emphatic Michigan win, but the formulas can’t calculate the tremendous hate that drives Michigan State against their closest Big Ten rival. Spartans win this one in some fashion that spawns a month’s worth of Harbaugh reaction GIFs.
Time, TV channel, and streaming info
- Time: Noon ET
- Location: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
- TV: FOX
- Streaming: FoxSportsGo, fuboTV
- Odds: Michigan is favored by five points.
Michigan vs. Michigan State news:
- Michigan State got a major defensive effort last week to topple Penn State on the road.
- Jim Harbaugh knows just where the Spartans biggest strengths lie in 2018.
“Very good run defense (Michigan State), very stout up front, they’ve got some hard playing guys, linebackers that are some of the best in the league. Very sound system. Do a great job of adjusting. Tremendously well coached. Have a lot of variation to their scheme.”
- But Harbaugh’s got a run-crusher of his own — midseason All-American Chase Winovich.
- The Spartan defense, believe it or not, actually left a bunch of plays on the field in last week’s win.
Can Michigan abuse Brian Lewerke the same way it did Alex Hornibrook?
The Wolverines made the Wisconsin quarterback look like a walk-on last week, bullying him into a 7-20 performance where most of his yardage came well after this game had already been decided. Without even the slightest semblance of a passing game, Jonathan Taylor struggled to carry his team, leading to a 38-13 win in Ann Arbor.
Michigan will be tasked with a similar strategy against Luwerke, a preseason all-Big Ten honoree. The junior quarterback was central to his team’s upset of Penn State last week, throwing a 25-yard touchdown with 19 seconds remaining to lead the Spartans to victory. But his biggest performances — his only two 300+ yard games on the season, in fact — have come in MSU defeats. So even if Luwerke can stand up to the Wolverines’ fearsome front, it may not be enough.
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