Michigan State Football: 5 keys to victory vs. Iowa in Week 5
By Stephen Robb
Michigan State football takes on Iowa in East Lansing Saturday. Below are the five key ingredients that the Spartans must have in order to pull out a victory.
On a personal note, I did not pick the Spartans to win this game. My heart does believe they can snag a victory from the Hawkeyes, however, Michigan State must play it’s best game of 2017.
The Hawkeyes are disciplined and are coming off their own disappointing loss to Penn State. The last time these two met it was in the Big Ten Championship game of 2015.
Despite going 8-5 in 2016, Iowa still did not have the finish they hoped for, especially with returning starters like Desmond King and C.J. Beathard. The Spartans likewise had a season to forget in 2016. In many ways, MSU has faced this same type of Iowa team before. It’s a standard Iowa team that will not turn over the ball and challenge every play.
The Spartans have the talent, but do they have what it takes to win this one? Here are Michigan State’s five keys to victory.
5. Receivers need to bring their ‘A’ games
Michigan State was making a comeback attempt late against Notre Dame and Darrel Stewart Jr. dropped a touchdown pass. This is the type of mistake that MSU cannot afford against a gritty Iowa secondary.
There are no easy yards against the Hawkeyes and the receivers must step up to give Brian Lewerke much-needed help. Lewerke has thrown behind, or under-thrown the wide outs thus far, however, they will have to need to have their best game.
This is probably one of the most talented wide receiving corps that I can remember. I realize that there have been all-time greats at MSU like Courtney Hawkins, Plaxico Burress, Andre Risen and Mushin Muhammad, to name a few. However, from top to bottom this is an extremely promising group of receivers. Each game they have been given an education thus far and now they will need to apply what they have learned. Michigan State needs them Saturday.