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Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Spartans will beat Northwestern in Week 6

By Connor Muldowney

EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 28: Brandon Randle #26 of the Michigan State Spartans rushes against Rashawn Slater #70 of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 28, 2017 in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern defeated Michigan State 39-31 in triple overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 28: Brandon Randle #26 of the Michigan State Spartans rushes against Rashawn Slater #70 of the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 28, 2017 in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern defeated Michigan State 39-31 in triple overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State football is 3-1 looking for a convincing win over Northwestern. Here’s why the Spartans will beat the Wildcats in Week 6.

Beating Northwestern in East Lansing isn’t something current Michigan State players have been able to do. In fact, no Spartan has experienced this since 2009 — back when Kirk Cousins was still commanding the offense.

A win over the Wildcats would do more than just exact revenge for the last decade of home distress against Northwestern, but it’ll work wonders when it comes to building confidence heading into the meat of the Big Ten schedule.

Michigan State will take care of business versus the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, and here’s why.

5. Northwestern’s offensive line is sack-prone

In the opener at Purdue, it looked like Northwestern’s offensive line was much-improved, keeping Clayton Thorson on his feet. The Wildcats didn’t allow a single sack, which had to be a confidence-booster for the quarterback coming off a major knee injury.

Over the last three games, the Wildcats allowed 11 sacks — six of those came against Michigan. Clearly, when the Wildcats face a decent defensive line, they crumble.

The pressure will get to this group on Saturday afternoon. Michigan State’s front-seven has turned up the pressure over the last couple of games and it looks like the strength of the defense. In fact, the Spartans have nine sacks over the past two games and the staff has been comfortable with dialing up blitzes to make opposing quarterbacks rush passes.

Thorson will have a difficult time feeling comfortable in the pocket on Saturday, and that’ll lead to some sacks, incompletions and even some turnovers.

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