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Michigan State Football: How many wins can Spartans reach in 2018?

By Stephen Robb

SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Mark Dantonio holds up the winning trophy along with players Chris Frey #23, Brian Lewerke #14, and Damion Terry #6 of the Michigan State Spartans after defeating the Washington State Cougars 42-17 in the SDCCU Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium on December 28, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 28: Head coach Mark Dantonio holds up the winning trophy along with players Chris Frey #23, Brian Lewerke #14, and Damion Terry #6 of the Michigan State Spartans after defeating the Washington State Cougars 42-17 in the SDCCU Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium on December 28, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Last year’s 10-3 record came as a surprise to many sports pundits but how many games can Michigan State football win this upcoming season?

I’ll admit it, I doubted last year’s squad and picked them to win six and go to a bowl game. There were the highs of the Penn State and Michigan games as well as the lows of the Ohio State beatdown and letdown of the Northwestern game. That team proved that they could hang and be a serious threat to the rest of the Big Ten.

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Michigan State gets a game against Utah State and while no game in a college football season is a penciled in victory, this is close to it — so MSU gets a win here. Then they go to Sun Devil Stadium and take on the fighting Herm Edwards of Arizona State. ‘You play to win the game,’ as he famously said and the Sun Devils will play to win the game, but Michigan State will get the better of them. The Spartans have 19-of-22 starters coming back and they are set at quarterback. Brian Lewerke will be playing in his home state and it will be added motivation.

The Spartans then open Big Ten play against Indiana and while the Hoosiers are always a tough matchup, the Spartans have too much on offense and defense. Indiana still has a quarterback battle brewing and it may get pushed into the season. This one goes to Michigan State.

Michigan State will then face Central Michigan and that will be another win. Then it’s a grudge match against Northwestern. Justin Jackson, whom the Spartans have had a difficult time tackling, has moved on to the San Diego Chargers. I give this one to the Spartans. Now they are 5-0 heading into a tough stretch.

Up next is Penn State. Miles Sanders a player MSU almost persuaded to come to East Lansing. He takes over at running back. Saquon Barkley is a once in a generational running back while Sanders was a five-star player he still is no Barkley. I give this one to MSU. Trace McSorely is dangerous however it’ll be interesting to watch how their offense adjusts to no Barkley. MSU brings back too much firepower.

This means that MSU will be 6-0 heading into the rivalry game with Michigan. The Wolverines have a tough schedule and there’s some potential for a few losses to either Nebraska, Wisconsin or Notre Dame. Also, with only seven starts under his belt, it’s still difficult to tell how good Shea Patterson will be. However, from what I have seen of his play, he’s a serious upgrade at quarterback for the Wolverines and adds more dimension to the offense. I give this game to the Spartans.

Why the Spartans will win this game? Brian Lewerke. He is the difference maker and second best quarterback in the Big Ten. As good as Michigan’s defensive line was last year they could not contain Lewerke until the rain came in the second half. While Michigan fans may complain about the rain in that game it went both ways for the teams. I witnessed two drives where the vaunted Michigan defense had no answers for Lewerke. Bottom line until Michigan can beat a team other than Purdue that has a winning record then I’ll listen to that argument as to why the Wolverines will win this game.

The Spartans will beat Purdue because the Boilermakers are still not there even though they have a great coach. The same is true for Maryland. This would put them at 9-0 going into the Ohio State game. Even though it’s at home at this point, I don’t believe MSU is going to knock off OSU. The Buckeyes lost much from last season’s team but by the time these two play, they would have figured things out.

The Nebraska game is a tricky one because they seem to always have Michigan State’s number and I believe this year will be no different. The Spartans drop this one, too, to bring their record to 9-2. Nebraska is a trap game because MSU must travel to Lincoln. Even if they pull off the upset against OSU, I doubt they’ll be able to beat Nebraska at their place. They have not had the best of luck regarding the Cornhuskers.

They are able to bounce back against Rutgers to go 10-2.

I like this MSU roster and there is real promise with this team. I think Scott Frost will make a huge difference at Nebraska. Or it is possible that his first season will be similar to Minnesota’s PJ Fleck. Frost did much with very little quickly at Central Florida. He’ll have much better resources at Nebraska. The game that will determine what the Cornhuskers are capable of is that early Michigan game.

Last season, Ohio State took it to the Spartans. While MSU will play better this year, the result will be the same. The Spartans need to take some steps forward and big part of that is on the defensive line. If they can generate pressure on quarterbacks with their defensive tackles, then I would consider changing my opinion.

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There’s potential for the Spartans to go undefeated however that will be determined early in the season. Either way, it will be an exciting season for MSU fans.

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