Writer 's: @Gage_Sports, @MSUDude4
Arguably best rivalry in sports takes place Saturday night under the lights at the big house:
An highly anticipated match up between two of the biggest rivals in CFB is going down this Saturday night under the lights for a legendary battle in a legendary stadium. Michigan, ranked 4th in the country, looks to snap a two game losing streak against the unranked Spartans. The Wolverines are coming off the bye week and a 41-17 victory vs then ranked #10 Penn State at home. Coming into the match up this weekend is a lot different from last year. Last season both teams came in undefeated, this season, MSU is 3-4 with blowout losses to Washington, Minnesota, Maryland and Ohio State. MSU Head Coach Mel Tucker has faced plenty of criticism for the lack of success this season after signing a 95-millon dollar contract extension after their successful 2021 season. A lot has changed for the Wolverines as far as their roster is concerned, but nothing has changed for Michigan as far as performance is concerned. Although Josh Gattis was offensive coordinator for Michigan last season and he went to coach for the Miami Hurricanes this Season the Wolverines still are dominating with their old school offense. The questions for Michigan coming into this year was how much would losing 1st round picks Aidan Hutchinson and Dax Hill on defense would effect them as well as RB Hassan Haskins, ED David Ojabo and LB Josh Ross. A lot of impactful players left for the NFL this off-season but why hasn't it effected the Wolverines success this season?...
Picking up the slack:
With familiar Michigan stars walking out the door in April Michigan fans have had to adjust to new names, and players in new roles. Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo were monsters up front for Michigan last season, they combined for 25 sacks and 7 forced fumbles in 2021 alone, and with Mike Morris lining up in-between them it was an incredible 3 headed monster to watch. Despite not having Hutchinson or Ojabo Michigan has kept they're dominance up front led by Mike Morris who has 5 sacks. You could say Michigan has more pass rush depth this season compared to 2021. Jeylen Harrell has been heating up of late, Eyabi Okie has been one of the better comeback stories in college football, the young former 5-stat recruit didn't pan out with powerhouse SEC Alabama Crimson Tide because of his behavioral issues but he's cleaned up his act, and has focused on being a great teammate and leader on the defense. He's trying so hard to be better that he even went as far as getting baptized after joining Michigan. Okie's play on the gridiron so far this season has been terrific. Michael Barrett has looked good to with 2.5 sacks, and Moore, Colson, Graham, Smith, Moten, McGregor, and Upshaw have also contributed to the pass rush for Michigan this season. But maybe the most pleasant surprise has been Mike Sainristril from the secondary position. Sainristril converted from WR to CB after having a successful 2021 season on offense and it's made the coaching staff look brilliant as Mike Sainristril has performed great this season. He has 2 sacks from the secondary, 15 solo tackle's, 9 ast, 24 TOT, 4 PD's, and an INT on a 2-pt conversion attempt. Last season Sainristril had 21 REC, 305 Yards, 14.8 average yards, and 5 TD's as a WR. That shows how Michigan feels about they're depth from the WR position... Now that we got defense out of the way, the departure of Hassan Haskins didn't worry or panic many Michigan fans knowing they'd still have a talented duo in Corum and Edwards in the backfield and early on the Wolverines have a Heisman favorite in Blake Corum. Possibly the best offensive weapon in the country Corum has been an unstoppable force in Michigan's old school offense. What makes it even more incredible is the fact that he's playing alongside another very talented and versatile RB again. It was the 3 headed monster last year with Haskins, Corum and Edwards, with Haskins and Corum getting most of the play time so all this time that Corum has dominated with Michigan he's shared snaps often with RB2. Corum has rushed for 901 yards, 6.4 average per attempt on a career high 146 attempts, and a career high 13 TD's. He needs 52 yards to pass a career high in yards. Donovan Edwards finally had his breakout game this season vs Penn State in a game where he and Corum combined for 339 yards. On the season Edwards has rushed for 307 yards, on 43 attempts with 4 TD's and an average of 7.1 yards a carry. Personally, I'd love to see Donovan Edwards get more involved in the passing game rather than the ground game. Edwards was dominate last year in the passing game vs Maryland having over 100 receiving yards. He's got the size, the speed, the route running ability, I think that'd be another weapon for JJ if he can get involved in that area from the backfield. Blake Corum's pass protection ability isn't talked about enough, I wouldn't mind seeing Harbaugh throw them both out there at times and have Blake in pass protection and Donovan out there as a receiver...
Michigan's Keys to the Game:
1. Lockdown Jayden Reed:
The only area of MSU's offense that worries me is their passing game, not because I'm worried about Payton Thorne, but because of the ability of Jayden Reed. If you caught the MSU vs Wisconsin game that went into overtime two weeks ago then you caught a glimpse of Reed's ability. One play can change a drive or a game, and Reed has the ability to do that Saturday night. There's no doubt in my mind that MSU will look for an opportunity to get the ball to Reed all night and if he has a career game, well, it may be trouble for Michigan's defense and it's probably the only way Michigan State can pull of the upset. Luckily, Michigan has a couple good options to go against Jayden Reed. DJ Turner and Mike Sainristril, I believe at the end of the day we'll probably see Turner vs Reed but what scares me about that is Turner has been having issues with getting called for pass interference quite often the early part of this year and a guy like Reed can definitely force you into those kind of mistakes.
2. Pressure Payton Thorne:
I already filled you in on Michigan's success up front. Part of shutting down Jayden Reed will be making sure that Payton Thorne doesn't have time to get it to him. If the Wolverines can bully Thorne like they have been bullying opposing QB's all season then that's taking away Michigan State's biggest weapon and forcing them to try and get a run game going. This defense hasn't been a glamorous as I've made it out to be, there's been secondary issues and occasionally hiccups in the run game, but if Michigan can get pass rushers in the backfield consistently than I feel pretty good about the outcome of the game.
3. Andrel Anthony breakout:
Michigan State fans definitely know this guy. Coming into the matchup between U of M and MSU last season Anthony wasn't a well known name in the CFB world but a breakout performance on Big Noon kickoff in one of the biggest rivalry games in the world definitely put him on the map but Andrel Anthony has been extremely quiet this season. Harbaugh however says he see's a breakout game for Andrel Anthony coming soon, and this Saturday night would be fitting if Anthony could have a big game against a bad MSU secondary.
4. Consistency:
Not a whole lot to add here but Michigan needs to be consistent and for the most part keep it simple. I'd like to see them run a balanced offense this weekend so we can also see JJ against a weak Spartans secondary. The run game is only gonna make McCarthy more successful as the night goes on so just stay consistent and in my opinion call a similar game as when we played Iowa earlier this year because I think it'd be way more successful against MSU.
5. Play Action:
If you've watched enough Michigan games this season then you probably know that JJ McCarthy is nearly unstoppable on play action. Even if he makes a mistake and you think it's not gonna end well he turns it into a positive play. He doesn't just get it done with his legs on PA, he arguably throws his best on the move and on play action. There's been times where I've screamed at my TV "CALL PLAY ACTION" but they usually don't listen to me lol. It's such a successful play for them and I can see Michigan picking MSU apart with it.
6. No turnovers:
This is an easy one as turnovers have hurt Michigan in this rivalry in the past. Don't give the Spartans an opportunity to score. If we avoid turnovers it's hard to see MSU pulling off an upset...
The rest of this article was written by who's representing Michigan State
Keys to the game:
Previewing Michigan State's game at Michigan
It’s that time of year again.
Tomorrow, Michigan State will finally take on Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The two teams’ seasons have followed fairly opposite trajectories, but that doesn’t really matter.
It always has been and it always will be a huge game.
Let’s have a look at the upcoming matchup.
Keys/Factors to the game:
Payton Thorne
Now you see him, now you don’t! Payton Thorne, MSU’s QB1, has definitely been having a disappointing 2022 season. It reached the point where many fans were calling for his benching, asking for the backup, Noah Kim. Thorne’s last game, however, went surprisingly well. Thorne threw for 265 yards, two scores, and no interceptions against Wisconsin, which was nice to finally see. The question is, however, what version of Thorne will show up against Michigan? He’s had good games this season besides Wisconsin, but he can’t stay consistent. For example, against Washington he passed for 323 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception, and looked great for most of the game. The very next Saturday versus Minnesota, though, he had an absolute clunker of a game, throwing for only 132 yards and being picked off twice. Which Payton Thorne will we see on Saturday? A fearless gunslinger, or Tim Boyle? I don’t know yet, but as I see it, how Thorne plays is the single biggest determining factor for MSU’s success in this game. The Spartans have the receivers, but will they have the quarterback?
Jay Johnson and the playbook
I am tired of seeing runs up the middle for 2 yards.
Not to say that the Spartans shouldn’t run the ball on Saturday, but if they want to win, the offensive coordinator Jay Johnson must open up the playbook and have some fun. If we’re being honest with ourselves, at this point in the season, Michigan has a lot more to lose than MSU does. I want to see Johnson try all sorts of plays - jet sweeps, end-arounds, flea-flickers, deep bombs, trick plays, the whole nine yards. Michigan State must try to catch the Wolverines off guard and make big plays. MSU cannot be conservative with the ball - Johnson must call a great game if the Spartans hope to win. And listen, I’m no football coach, but I’d especially love to see a lot of deep balls to Reed and Coleman - they’ve shown they can make the catches, and those sort of plays could absolutely kill the Wolverines.
Players returning from injury
We know that safety Xavier Henderson and defensive tackle Jacob Slade, two of the best players on the MSU defense, have both fully returned from injury. But past those two, these are still some injury concerns, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive ends Jeff Pietrowski and Khris Bogle have both been sidelined for the last few weeks, as well as a couple pieces in the secondary. Head coach Mel Tucker hasn’t been one to give out a lot of information with regard to injuries, so we really don’t know the status of any of these guys - fans will just have to hope they’ll be able to play. If any of these guys are good to go, particularly Pietrowski or Bogle, that will be massively helpful for the defense.
J.J McCarthy
Michigan’s sophomore quarterback (and former five-star recruit) J.J. McCarthy has looked good. He’s flashed his potential all year, but the question is, what are we going to see this Saturday? McCarthy has had some great performances, but also other games where he hasn’t been all that great, as well as games where he hasn’t passed a lot due to the emphasis on the run game. The question, in my mind, is this - how will Michigan utilize McCarthy, and will he play like he’s shown he can? But if he doesn’t step up, or if the coaches play it more conservatively - that gives State a better chance. If Michigan’s coaching staff will open up the offense and let McCarthy sling the ball around, though, the MSU defense could run into some real problems.
Hazelton
Scottie Hazelton has not been a terribly effective defensive coordinator.
To put it lightly.
This year, we’ve seen the MSU secondary get repeatedly torched, with seemingly no changes being made between games. If I’m being totally honest, I’m not holding out hope that Hazelton will improve the defense - he just doesn’t seem like he’s the answer. But, at the very least, Hazelton and the Spartans have had an extra week to prepare, so it’s a possibility they’ve changed some things up. Don’t hold your breath, but some defensive improvement would do wonders for MSU’s chances in this game. If Michigan State comes out of the bye with the same sorry secondary we’ve seen this year, though, there can no longer be any argument for keeping Hazelton around.
The Front Seven
If there is one game that Michigan State’s defensive line (and linebackers) absolutely must step up, it is this game. Michigan’s offensive line, as we’ve seen, is extremely strong. Blake Corum is a very good running back, and Donovan Edwards can also definitely cause some problems. The run defense and the pass rush need to have a great game on Saturday. If they don’t, McCarthy will have a clean pocket to pass from, and Michigan’s running backs will also gash the Spartans all day.
Michigan State's Run Game
Even if Thorne has a good day vs. the Wolverines, the running game will still need to take some pressure off him. To summarize the Spartans’ backs, Berger and Collins looked decent last game, but Broussard hasn’t contributed much since the Akron contest. Broussard especially is someone I was excited to watch coming into this season, and I’d love to see the former PAC-12 Offensive Player of the Year get it back together. Returning to the main point, the offensive line needs to have a good run-blocking game, and hopefully the backs can take care of the rest. If the Spartans can get their once-promising ground game back on track, they’ll be a much tougher team.
Conclusion
Regardless of how strong either team looks heading into these matchups, it often seems like they turn out to be toss-ups - rivalry games are weird. MSU just has too many question marks all over the team, though, and Michigan is firing on all cylinders right now. I’m absolutely not counting out the Spartans, but as much as I hate to say it, I’d have to give Michigan the better chance to win this one.
As I see it, to pull the upset, a couple things especially need to go right for MSU. Thorne absolutely must have a good game, the defense needs to really step up, and they can go from there. A little luck never hurts either.
All things considered, though, you never really know what’s going to happen in a game like this. I’ll definitely be tuning in this Saturday for what should be a good one.
Go Green.
-JASF
Spartans @ Wolverines kickoff starts at 7:30pm on ABC Saturday night.
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