The Michigan State Spartans welcome in the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in college football action Saturday. The game is scheduled for a noon start time and it will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Spartans favored by a comfortable margin in this one over the Knights.
Michigan State lost its chance to play in the college football playoffs this year when they were humbled by the Ohio State Buckeyes a few weeks back. Ohio State now sits in the sixth spot for the rankings while Michigan State is No. 11 in the poll. Michigan State got back up off the turf last week by beating Maryland, and they should be able to do the same thing to Rutgers in this one.
The Spartans have been very good offensively this season, averaging nearly 44 points per game. Typically the Spartan defense has been solid but in their losses this year they've given up 46 points to Oregon and 49 to Ohio State. For the year though Michigan State has only given up 23 points per game. They'll look to bring a good effort in this game against a Rutgers team that only averages 26 points per game.
The Scarlet Knights beat Indiana last week and QB Gary Nova has looked good at times this season, but also poor. Nova has 16 TDs on the season with 2,200 yards through the air, a bunch to Leonte Carroo. Andrew Turzilli has only caught nine passes all season but three of them have gone for touchdowns and he has 313 yards receiving on those nine catches — good for a 34.8 yards per catch average. Pretty good.
Against Michigan State, those types of numbers just won't happen. Rutgers has beaten the Spartans in three of the five matchups, but the two schools haven't met since 2004. Connor Cook and James Langford should both have good days for the MSU offense in this one. Rutgers has won six games and is eligible for a bowl game, so just how much effort will they be bringing to this matchup? They haven't played well against the best in the conference, either, losing to Wisconsin and Ohio State already by a combined score of 93-17. MIchigan State should be winning comfortably in this one.
Free Pick: Michigan State 44, Rutgers 17
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