Michigan State Football: Score predictions vs. Minnesota in Week 7
Michigan State football will travel to Minnesota on Saturday night. Here are the final score predictions from the Spartan Avenue staff.
This game has all the feeling of a trap for Michigan State football. The Spartans are coming off a huge win over No. 7 Michigan and traveling to Minnesota isn’t as easy as it sounds. A night game at TCF Bank Stadium could be bad news for the Spartans.
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However, P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers are coming off two straight losses against opponents that are arguably inferior to the green and white this season. Minnesota is currently reeling and a win over Michigan State might not seem likely.
Take a look at the staff’s final score predictions for Saturday’s Minnesota game.
Connor Muldowney: This one will come down to who can protect the ball more effectively, and that will be the Spartans. Brian Lewerke will pass for over 250 yards and the Spartans will finally have a 100-yard rusher (LJ Scott?). The defense will clamp down for the third straight game and hold yet another Big Ten opponent to less than 20 points. About 15 years ago, this exact scenario would lead to a letdown performance by the Spartans. Not anymore.
Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 17
Stephen Robb: Minnesota coach PJ Fleck’s previous teams have been a thorn in Mark Dantonio’s side. However this Minnesota team does not appear to be up to the challenge. The Golden Gophers are riddled with injuries and Fleck has yet to find his quarterback. He appears to be a year or two away from being a serious contender.
While the circumstances for victory appear to be grim for Minnesota, I would not count them out just yet. This is a classic trap game for MSU. Albeit Dantonio has done well after Michigan week, but this will be a tough test with such a young team. If they can pull off a win in Minnesota, then the rest of the Big Ten should be worried. The Spartan defense will continue it’s surge against the Golden Gophers.
This is a great game for MSU to get their run game going and probably the reason Dantonio held LJ Scott out last week. This will be a close game early in the first half but MSU pulls away in the second.
Final Score: Michigan State 28, Minnesota 10
Michael Briggs: Michigan State heads to Minnesota hoping to avoid a letdown after last week’s gutsy victory over Michigan. While Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck will have his squad motivated for an upset opportunity under the lights of TCF Bank Stadium, Spartans fans shouldn’t be too worried.
Minnesota’s defense, while impressive on paper, has been porous of late against better competition. In the last two weeks, the Gophers allowed over 400 yards of offense to both Maryland and Purdue, albeit in different ways. The Terps did it on the ground, rushing for 262 yards, while the Boilermakers found success through the air, passing for 307 yards. Minny is also pretty beaten up, especially in the secondary. Simply put, expect much more offense from MSU compared to last week’s grind-it-out defensive win over the Wolverines.
Offensively, Minnesota is very one-dimensional, as QB Conor Rhoda has only thrown 98 passes through five games. That’s not going to get it done against Michigan State. The Spartans’ stout defense will bottle up the Gophers’ rushing attack and force Rhoda to throw a few ill-advised passes, picking off two of them. Michigan State is only favored by four, but it shouldn’t be that close.
Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 10
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Adam Zdroik: This is a perfect letdown situation, but that hasn’t affected Mark Dantonio in the past. The Gophers are worse on both sides of the ball, but a home game under the lights can go a long way. Yet, that still won’t be enough. Expect the Spartans run defense to lead the way and force Conor Rhoda to do more than he can.
Final Score: Michigan State 23, Minnesota 16