Msu @ um

[LuciousGameWinner]

Well it's Thursday so let's start throwing some predictions out there.

Both defensive lines will dominate the opposing offensive line in my opinion. The game will be won by the QBs as I don't see any back going over a 100 yards. It's time to open up the playbook and let Connor cook either win us a big game or show that he's not really who the NFL scouts think he is. Let him throw it 50 times +.

Prediction:
MSU: 28
Michigan 20

Cook 3TDs and LJ with a TD.

 

[Spartanmack]

I'm not sure why you think uofm can't run on us - excluding sacks, RU ran for 170 yards. If we're going to win this game it's going to be by severely reducing the big plays we give up whether it's their offense or special teams.

 

[Spartan23MSU]

Michigan 27

MSU 10

Dont feel good about it. Wow, I just noticed 300+ posts on the UM board about this game and 1 here. I guess "were obsessed" lets reassess the narrative. *yawns*

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

This feel like the big ten championship game when we went to the rose bowl. ESPN and all national media absolutely hyping up the opponent only for MSU to win. Never underestimate Dantonio.

 

[SpartyNash]

I give us about a 40% chance of winning this game, I am so down on us given the way we have underwhelmed big time all season. I hope we have been saving it all for this point, but I doubt it. I think Cook plays well but I think Michigan will shut down the run game to make the difference.

Michigan 24, MSU 21

 

[Sbee]

It's tough to pick this game until you know who is playing but all in all there are too many question marks for MSU right now. we need a lot of things to go our way to win

UM 24
MSU 13

 

[johnny2x2x]

Msu 24 um 20.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Damn......this is a game that splits the heart and mind.

Heart says MSU gets up for this game because of how big it is.......not just locally anymore......this game has MAJOR implications if we really think we belong with the big boys this year.

Mind says too many injuries and underwhelming play this year.

To me.....the key for MSU is the front 7 and how well we defend the run. Can we make Ruddock have to beat us......because I don't think he can. But if we cant stop the run and the play action opens up.....Butt might have a big ass day!!!! (get it??)

as much as this kills me.....

U of M 27
MSU 17

Win or lose.......REALLY looking forward to the hand shake afterward.......as whoever the losing coach is.......he's going to be PISSED!!!!

 

[Spartanmack]

I think we'll be able to throw the ball against them. I'm sure some will disagree but the truth is, our O-line has never been all that good but we've had playmakers that made up for it. And right now Cook/Burbridge is as good a combo as we've had under Dantonio or a close second at the least. Kings, Shelton are playing well as are the TEs even without Price - if he and London play, we still have a solid offense. Arnett even made some big plays last week. If the defense and special teams can limit the big plays, we'll compete on Saturday. We probably can't drop TD passes or throw dumb picks like we did in the 1h last week, but this game is by no means a foregone conclusion.

 

[Spartan23MSU]

I think we'll be able to throw the ball against them. I'm sure some will disagree but the truth is, our O-line has never been all that good but we've had playmakers that made up for it. And right now Cook/Burbridge is as good a combo as we've had under Dantonio - Kings and Shelton are playing well as is Arnett and the TEs even without Price - if he and London play, we still have a solid offense. If the defense and special teams can limit the big plays, we'll compete on Saturday.

I dont know if Allen, Price and Conklin are playing. Weve been fortunate with limited injuries (for football) in the past but stats are evening that out this year. I believe were still missing a fair number of players which is very unfortunate. We arent going to win a game running up the middle 1st and 2nd down and throwing for 8 yards over the middle on 3rd down. Open the damn playbook or just forfeit. :argh:

We really dont have much momentum going into this game. Id be really surprised if we won. I have no expectation of it though.

 

[Sbee]

Price will help a lot with red zone offense and 3rd down efficiency. I'm not to worried about scott and holmes vs London and Scott, I don't think there's a huge drop off there. The questionable injuries to allen and hicks are the ones that worry me. There is a big difference between hicks (who is recovered from mono and playing better) and Edmonson who was 5th on the depth chart to start the year. Those guys are backed up by guys who haven't played 1 down yet.

My concern are tackling and protection for cook along with special teams. Michigan is a solid team and we have to get a few guys back and play our best gane by a mile. We've had really good halves but no complete games.

 

[sggatecl]

Michigan 27

MSU 10

Dont feel good about it. Wow, I just noticed 300+ posts on the UM board about this game and 1 here. I guess "were obsessed" lets reassess the narrative. *yawns*

Should probably check the thread before you reassess anything. The vast majority of that thread is banter between both sides.

 

[Sbee]

Michigan 27

MSU 10

Dont feel good about it. Wow, I just noticed 300+ posts on the UM board about this game and 1 here. I guess "were obsessed" lets reassess the narrative. *yawns*

About 100 of them were in response to me saying that our injuries could be a factor on saturday. The truth can be highly offensive to a few of the fragile egos over there. I did have the audacity to say that second stringers weren't as good as all Americans, they didn't like that.

 

[SpartyNash]

We're banged up no doubt and it does impact the game and our team, I just know I am going to hear a ton of MSU fans that will bring it up right away as an excuse if we lose, and I hate that.

 

[LuciousGameWinner]

We're banged up no doubt and it does impact the game and our team, I just know I am going to hear a ton of MSU fans that will bring it up right away as an excuse if we lose, and I hate that.

Don't you worry my friend. MSU will win.

 

[Spartanmack]

About 100 of them were in response to me saying that our injuries could be a factor on saturday. The truth can be highly offensive to a few of the fragile egos over there. I did have the audacity to say that second stringers weren't as good as all Americans, they didn't like that.

I generated several pages of vitriol and got more than a few of them lathered up when I pointed out that up to this point, except for Utah who beat michigan, their schedule isn't materially harder than ours and the difference isn't so much quality of opponent but rather the fact that they are dominating weak teams while we are struggling against similarly weak teams.

 

[Spartanmack]

Msu 24 um 20.

I said the same on the score prediction thread on the michigan page. I think the game could be in the 50s or even 60s but I think we have a better chance of winning a lower scoring game. We have to limit their big plays which i'm not sure we can do even w/ their somewhat 1 dimensional offense.

 

[Sbee]

We're banged up no doubt and it does impact the game and our team, I just know I am going to hear a ton of MSU fans that will bring it up right away as an excuse if we lose, and I hate that.

I hate it too, if we're going to lose I'd much rather lose with our best team or close to it. We've had our share of underachieving basketball teams like 2006, 2012 that will never bother me like 2014. I feel like this season could go in that direction

 

[biggunsbob]

Like I mentioned earlier this week when I worked in the sports book at balls Las Vegas for 17 years game like this would come up and the public would be on one side and about 80 to 90 percent of the time the public is always wrong. Both teams will stop the run probably and MSU has the better qb and widevouts ..can Jake bring Michigan back if they fall behind may be a issue.. Michigan states injuries could play a huge part also. Goodluck to both teams..

 

[zyxt9]

I love Lucious having so much optimism and displaying it proudly during a rivalry week.

I also get that injuries are a factor in the game. It is always preferred to have both rivals at full strength and for injuries to not be a factor. Unfortunately for MSU, that is not the case this week. While UM has Oji out, and Ross serving that half game suspension, these are relatively small compared to what MSU is dealing with. The MSU DL is a shell of its potential self, and UM's OL has been continually improving.

Lucious, love your enthusiasm...but based on what I have seen from UM coupled with MSU struggles, not to mention the UM players level of confidence combined with hunger for wins after losing for too long (which prevents them from being over-confident as they WANT to win as opposed to simply going through the motions and acting like it is a given), this game does not bode well for MSU. UM's OL which has continued to improve will dominate the weakened MSU DL, and the RB rotation will pound it through for 250 yards while chewing up clock. Yes, Cook is a good QB, but the UM pass D is not at the top of the ranks for no good reason, they play tight coverage, get solid pass rush from the DL, mix in blitzes, and have a downright nasty attitude that I have not seen before, not even in '97-98 which was an all time great D...but this one is just nasty and gets offended when teams even sniff a 1st down.

Sorry guys. I wish you the absolute best the rest of the year, but this one will sting for those who are unprepared. Keep the faith though, and hopefully you get some of those injuries healed soon.

UM 45
MSU 0

Despite this, I hope MSU wins out after this game!