Michigan Wolverines vs Michigan State Spartans Football Preview

Welcome Little Brother! This Saturday at 3:30 at the Big House, the rivals from East Lansing, the #17 Michigan State Spartans, square off against the #18 Michigan Wolverines in what is bound to be a game for the ages. In recent years, the Spartans have gradually shed the title of “Little Brother” as dubbed by the Maize and Blue. Rich Rodriguez is still winless against the Spartans, but times are changing for the coach with the most pressure on him in the FBS. Rodriguez and the Wolverines have Denard “Shoelace” Robinson on their side and Big Ten coaches still do not know how to prepare to face the most outstanding player in college football. 5-0 vs. 5-0, Big Brother vs. Little Brother, Rodriguez vs. Dantonio, Denard vs. the Spartans defense, Laces vs. No Laces, Michigan vs. Michigan State; this is what Saturdays are all about.

Michigan State boasts a good quarterback in Kirk Cousins, but the loss of wide receiver Blair White to the NFL slows the passing game a little bit. Yet, Cousins is still a very poised quarterback, has strong weapons in Mark Dell and Keshawn Martin, and faces the porous Michigan secondary who gave up 480 yards passing to Indiana’s Ben Chappell. The Wolverines have the worst ranked pass defense in the entire nation, 120 th. Cousins will look to air it out more than usual because the Spartans know where to attack this Michigan team. Michigan State really poses a great difficulty to the rush defense of the Wolverines. Mike Martin, Craig Roh, and Ryan Van Bergen need to find a way to anchor the defense and slow down Edwin Baker and Le’veon Bell. Baker has 536 yards rushing on the season and Bell has 471 yards rushing, so they can clearly pick up the yardage and then punch the ball into the end zone. Michigan State will definitely be able to put up the points in this game, so look for them to score a lot.

But, they have to contain the superpower of Denard Robinson. Robinson has 1008 passing yards and 905 rushing yards with 15 total touchdowns this season through a mere five games. He is the epitome of a dual threat quarterback, can score in the blink of an eye, and is a Heisman frontrunner. The zone running scheme has displayed its brilliance with Denard at the helm and will continue to pose issues the rest of the season and especially on Saturday for Greg Jones and the Spartan defense. It is nearly impossible to prepare for facing Robinson in the weekly practices before facing the Wolverines. In this game, Robinson will gracefully dance his way through defenders into the end zone. Robinson will air it out to his expansive corps of receivers. Robinson will score in clutch situations. Denard will do it all for the Wolverines. But, he will also have some help with the probable return of Michael Shaw after he missed the last game with a knee injury. Vincent Smith also has 4 touchdowns through 5 games, so the offense can produce outside of Robinson.

All I can say for the Spartans is dread the dreads, and hope that Michigan does not have the final possession of this game. Both teams will drop the points on each other and this will be an extremely exciting game that the entire nation should watch. While a lot rides on this game for the continued success of both of these teams this season, the Wolverines need this to break the Spartan slump. A 6-0 start for the Wolverines would really propel them into a whole new league of competitiveness and gain some more fear and respect from around the FCS. Rich Rodriguez would have a more secure job and the Wolverine faithful would begin to rally behind him. With so much at stake, who will rise to the challenge? I say Denard Robinson and the Wolverines will have the final possession and the Big House erupts when Shoelace scores the game-winning touchdown in a shootout. This Wolverines vs. Spartans game will go down in history as one of the greatest games in the Battle for Paul Bunyan Trophy rivalry. So here’s to you again, Denard Robinson.

Prediction: Michigan Wolverines 35, Michigan State Spartans 34

GO BLUE!

By: Lee Schechter
Big Ten Fans Michigan Wolverines Correspondent