Michigan State Football: 5 questions Spartans must answer in 2018

Michigan State football surprised everyone outside of its locker room with its 10-win bounce back season in 2017.

Consequently, the 2018 Spartans football team will face higher expectations, but they aren’t they unquestioned favorites to win the Big Ten, either.

With so much returning talent, MSU fans have a lot to be excited about, but there are questions that must be answered if Michigan State hopes to take the next step forward.

5. Will the early bye week prove costly?

The past two seasons, Michigan State’s bye week came very early in the season — during the second week in 2016 and the third week in 2017. Coincidentally, both bye weeks came before games against Notre Dame, allowing the Spartans an extra week to prepare for their big non-conference showdowns.

Unfortunately, the results were mixed, as MSU beat the Irish handedly in 2016 and suffered a 20-point loss in 2017. While an extra week to prepare for a tough opponent is never bad, the early byes did force MSU to play out the remainder of the 2016 and 2017 seasons without a break.

This streak will continue in 2018, as the Spartans will open the season against Utah State and Arizona State and then take their bye in week three. While a road game against Indiana shouldn’t be overlooked, there is no premier opponent following the bye this year, either. Michigan State will certainly be prepared to deal with this scheduling misfortune, but it remains to be seen if the ten-week stretch of consecutive games, nine of which are conference games, will prove costly. The MSU staff will do all it can to prepare the players, but there’s a higher likelihood of injuries and tired legs late in games, regardless.

That said, the Spartans will not be the only Big Ten East challenger to deal with this. Michigan opens its season with eight consecutive games before it takes its bye. That eighth game will be on the road at Spartan Stadium. Ohio State will also play eight consecutive weeks before taking its bye. Only Penn State, which has a week six bye before it hosts the Spartans, has a much more favorable schedule in this regard. Nothing is ever going to be completely fair, but it’s unfortunate that Michigan State must deal with this for the third consecutive season. Luck will have to be on MSU’s side if it hopes to make it to Indianapolis.