Written By: Case Conley
Last week was hectic for Michigan and Michigan State players and fans on the field, and in the tunnel following the game in the Big House. Between Michigan State suspending 8 players and John Harbaugh making claims for criminal charges, there are still challenging games on the horizon for both teams.
Michigan at Rutgers
After being ranked 5th in the first College Football Playoff rankings, Michigan travels to Piscataway to take on 4-4 Rutgers. The Wolverines are 26.5-point favorites, and the game will be at 7:30 pm on Big Ten Network. Michigan has won 7 in a row against Rutgers and they are reeling. Coming off a 31-0 rout at Minnesota, Rutgers comes back home hoping to bounce back. The Knights will be without their leading rusher Samuel Brown who suffered a season-ending foot injury a few weeks ago. The Rutgers offense has struggled and freshman Gavin Wimsatt will start his second game for a team who is very one-dimensional. They are bottom 25 in most offensive stats including yards per game. Their passing attack is not good, and is a bottom-10 team in the country. The defense is fairly average but has a lot of work to do against the Michigan offense. The Wolverines will be looking to take some frustration after the tunnel incident and not being ranked in the top 4 of the CFP rankings due to their poor schedule. Blake Corum looks to continue his Heisman run but I expect the Wolverines to rotate lots of players with Illinois and Ohio State in the upcoming weeks. The Wolverines will cruise on Saturday night.
Michigan 45, Rutgers 10
Michigan State at Illinois
A tumultuous week has occurred for the Spartans but they must prepare for 16th-ranked Illinois in Champaign. The Illini are 17-point favorites against Michigan State. This game has a 3:30 pm start time on Big Ten Network. Bret Bielema has brought life to a struggling program and they are ranked in the CFP rankings for the first time in program history. Led by the nation’s leading rusher Chase Brown and Syracuse transfer quarterback Tommy Devito the offense has been much improved. This offense controls the clock as well, they are second in the nation in time of possession while the Spartans are the second worst in the same stat. The defense has been surprisingly great as well, they lead the nation in points allowed only giving up around 9 points per game. The Michigan State offense will have to air it out early and often. Keon Coleman and Jayden Reed have been electric on the perimeter when given the chance. The defense will have to play the best they have all year to give them a chance. I think the Spartans will play with heart and put together a solid performance, however, the Illinois run game will be just too much.
Illinois 24, Michigan State 17
Written By: Case Conley
Photo Courtesy of: 247 Sports