Week 2 of the 2012 College Football season continues on Saturday and we will see the Michigan State Spartans travel to Kelly/ Shorts Stadium to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 PM (Eastern) start time and it will be televised live on ESPNU. Currently the odds for the game have Michigan State favored by 19.5 points for the game, while the total sits at 48. Currently 70% of the Public is on Michigan State, while 66% is on the Over. Find out what side the Public is taking on all the games by clicking HERE.
Free Analysis: The Spartans are now the highest ranked program from the Big Ten in the polls following their hard-fought, 17-13, win over Boise State on Friday and Michigan's loss to Alabama. MSU is coming off back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time in program history. Dantonio is 24-9 at MSU against non-conference competition. Last year, MSU rolled 45-7 after racing to a 31-point halftime lead. That was payback for Central Michigan's 29-27 upset win at East Lansing in 2009. Le'Veon Bell rushed for 210 yards on 44 carries and also caught six passes for 55 yards to lead the Spartans to last weeks win over Boise State. Bell was named co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Bell had more rushing yards that Boise State's output in total offense (206). Bell had 81 yards rushing and three touchdowns, all in the first half, in the win over Central Michigan last year. The Spartan defense held the usually explosive Broncos without an offensive touchdown for the first time since 1997 and to their lowest point total (13) since 2007. This will be Michigan State's 50th game against a current member of the Mid-American Conference. The Spartans are 40-7-2, with three of those losses coming to CMU.
CMU broke free from its halftime tie with Southeast Missouri State to earn a 38-27 victory in its 2012 season opener on Thursday. Central Michigan's head coach Dan Enos played quarterback for Michigan State from 1987-1990 and served as an assistant coach for the Spartans from 2006-2009. Zurlon Tipton (180) and Anthony Garland (102) both topped the century mark in rushing, marking the first time since 1999 the Chippewas have had two 100-yard rushers in the same game. Quarterback Ryan Radcliff needs to step up his play this week after being limited by SEMO's defense. Radcliff completed 14-of-23 attempts for 171 yards and a touchdown, with an interception. The Chippewas' QB showed he can move an offense down the field last season with a MAC leading 2,491 yards in league games, but he accompanied his 25 passing touchdowns with 16 interceptions. CMU, which allowed 428.8 yards and 33.3 points per game in 2011, gave up only three points in the second half of its opener after allowing 24 to its FCS opponent in the first two periods.
Saturday's contest is a continuation of the 12-game "Celebrate the State" series which includes CMU, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Michigan State. Despite being separated by just 70 miles, the Spartans have never played in Kelly/Shorts Stadium before despite this being the ninth encounter in the all-time series. The Spartans hold a 5-3 advantage in the rivalry's history after they delivered a 45-7 romp of CMU in 2011's edition of the series.
Free Pick: Gonna go with the Chippewas in this one. Michigan State is in a classic sandwich spot as they are off a hugely hyped game vs Boise State last week and they have Notre Dame on deck. The Spartans showed last week that they will miss QB Kirk Cousins, especially in the early part of the year as they had a lot of problems moving the ball vs a Boise defense that had brought back just 2 starters from a year ago. That could help a CMU defense that has 8 starters back, keep the Spartan's under wraps some. The Spartan defense is top notch and played that way vs a good Boise offense, but CMU does have 9 offensive starters back from a group that put up 23 ppg last year, so i expect gthem to score enough to keep this one under the posted total. Look for at most a 15 point Sparty win.
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