Michigan State Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2018

EAST LANSING, MI - NOVEMBER 04: LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans battles for yards past Manny Bowen #43 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the second half at Spartan Stadium on November 4, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 27-24. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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EAST LANSING, MI – OCTOBER 3: LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans runs the ball in the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Spartan Stadium on October 3, 2015 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No longer is Purdue a pushover in the Big Ten. No, the Boilermakers aren’t just a basketball school anymore thanks to Jeff Brohm.

They finished 7-6 overall a season ago with a Foster Farms Bowl win over Arizona and they could be one of the dark-horse contenders in the Big Ten West. The Boilermakers return eight starters on offense, including senior quarterback David Blough and junior Elijah Sindelar. Both are capable of starting, so there will be quite the quarterback controversy this fall.

On the ground, senior Markell Jones rushed for 566 yards and a touchdown last season and is the presumed No. 1 back. He won’t have much fun against this MSU run defense.

Brian Lewerke is going to have another big game against a secondary that ranked 94th in the country against the pass last season. The Boilermakers return both starting safeties, but have new cornerbacks in place.

The run defense ranked 29th in the country in 2017, but the Boilermakers return just two starters to the front-seven. So have yourself a day, LJ Scott.

Final Score: Purdue 20, Michigan State 31 (7-1, 4-1)

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