Michigan State Football: How Spartans compare to rest of Big Ten
By Stephen Robb
We’re just one week into the 2017 season and things are already looking up for Michigan State football.
Who is going to win the East Division in 2017? Is Maryland a team ready to challenge Ohio State and Michigan? Is it time to push the panic button if you are Northwestern fan? Will MSU make it back to a bowl game? These are all good questions however the answers to them will come in due time.
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Maryland beat a Tom Herman’s Texas team. Yes, and they looked good doing it. However the context of this win is that Herman took over a 5-7 club that was undisciplined. Herman will turn UT around, but it will take time. It’ll be a few weeks before we know just how good the Terrapins will be in 2017.
Iowa made Wyoming stud QB Josh Allen appear human. This is a great sign for Hawkeye fans who witnessed last year’s upset with North Dakota State. What does it mean? Nothing yet. Can MSU defeat Iowa? It remains to be seen if MSU can take down Western Michigan. USC struggled against Western Michigan.
Washington allowed Rutgers to hang around. Ohio State stumbled before getting going against Indiana. What does this mean? Little to nothing. A team only starts to show their true colors when conference play begins or by the third game. USC looked bad against Alabama at the start of the season, but finished strong beating Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Penn State in 2016 was out of the East Division title talk after their blowout loss to Michigan. Things can change quickly in the Big Ten.
The win for MSU was a good sign that the program is moving in the correct direction.
Brian Lewerke played well and he will have to continue to raise his game as the opponents get tougher each week. The offense was alive, but it mostly fell on Lewerke’s shoulders. The Spartans will grow and learn as the season wears on and they will have to if they are going to navigate the gauntlet of their schedule.
What do we know about the teams MSU will face? Michigan looks better than I originally expected but it also played a team that still has yet to find an offense in Florida. The Wolverines will be a tough matchup for Sparty. Indiana got up for an emotional game against Ohio State, but can they keep it going?
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Michigan State will have to clean up their turnovers to have a fighting chance in their schedule. Penn State and Ohio State are the class of the East Division. The West is a toss-up with every team having a shot, with the exception of Illinois. MSU will be back in a bowl game barring injury to Lewerke.