With apologies to the Commodores (not the Vanderbilt kind, but the old school R&B group) Mark Dantonio and his #15 Michigan State Spartans are hoping there’s “gonna be some sweet sounds, coming down on the nightshift.”
MSU will make just its second ever trip to Arizona State in one of the weekend’s most compelling games in the Big Ten and Pac 12. It’s just a shame that the contest kicks off so very late that most people in the eastern and central time zones (i.e. the part of the country where most of the interest in this game lies) will be long asleep by the second half.
SPREAD: Michigan State Spartans -7.5, Over/Under (48.5)
TV: ESPN 10:50 pm EDT (BREAK OUT THE CAFFEINE!!!)
Michigan State Spartans Preview:
This is one of those unfortunate September weekends in college football that we have all come to know and loathe- very few all power five conference match-ups, and instead it’s mostly league teams fattening up their records on mid-major and low-major cream puffs. Bummer that a potentially compelling game like this won’t be seen by many people due to TV, once again imposing their imprint (some would say ruining) the sport.
Last week was as ugly as a win could possibly get in college football, with the Spartans barely getting by, at home, versus a less than intimidating Utah State team. Two main areas of concern stand out from MSU’s 38-31 “sweet escape” as Gwen Stefani would say last Friday night- the secondary and the offensive line.
The supposed no fly zone was actually laissez-faire deregulated airspace as USU quarterback Jordan Love carved up the Michigan State Spartans to the tune of 319 yards passing.
On the plus side, State picked up right where they left off last season in stopping the run as stoutly as possible. Maybe MSU needs to sell “road closed” or “restricted vehicle access roads” t-shirts instead. As for the OL, they need to get a lot better and they need to improve now. Quarterback Brian Lewerke, despite all his mobility, was sacked way too many times.
And the running game was….well, it wasn’t Michigan State Spartans football that’s for sure! It’s a home coming game for Lewerke on Saturday night and hopefully he’ll get way better pass protection in this one. Being under duress he made some bad mistakes last week, exposing the down side of his sometimes maverick, pilot pushing the limit kind of style.
We love his risk taking style when it boldly pays off, hate it when it backfires. MSU can easily win this game if they OL plays better up front and Lewerke is able to play more conservatively.
“He’s had an opportunity to play in big games, big games here. Huge national games. So he’ll have an opportunity to play in another one back home,” said Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio. “I think he’s excited about it. I think he brings a little bit of how you play down there, the mentality from a mindset, what you got to do to play in the heat a little bit.”
A major player to watch in this game is MSU DT Raequan Williams. Go here to learn about what makes him such a special player on the field and a great person off of it.
Go here for more details on the Michigan State Spartans, every single position group, and their season preview.
Arizona State Sun Devils Preview:
With ASU, the conversation this season always starts with their extremely outside the box head coaching hire, Herm Edwards. It certainly seems like a very odd fit, on numerous levels, but it got off to a tremendous start. Arizona St. beat UTSA 49-7 last week, and that point total is more than any Edwards coached NFL team ever scored in a single game.
That’s impressive when you consider Edwards has coached 134 games in the league! Junior receiver N’Keal Harry, a first-team All-Pac 12 selection as a sophomore, led ASU with six catches for 140 yards, including two touchdowns.
“I like Herm Edwards. Good guy,” said Dantonio.
“You could tell that. Got charisma. Says what he means. Those type of things. Following him from afar, I remember when I was at the University of Kansas, Herm was just getting into coaching and was a scout for the Chiefs, (Marty) Schottenheimer’s team. He was one of the guys they were bringing in along as a defensive assistant. Dungy was a secondary coach there.”
“Unbelievable staff.”
Prediction: Michigan State Spartans 28, Arizona State Sun Devils 24
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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