Michigan State Football: 5 reasons Spartans will take down Northwestern

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

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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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 04: Running back Jeremy Larkin #28 of the Northwestern Wildcats runs in overtime against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on November 4, 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

4. Northwestern is lacking a run game

This isn’t something Northwestern expected to deal with when the season began. Despite losing Justin Jackson, Jeremy Larkin returned and there were high hopes for the sophomore after rushing for 500 yards as a freshman.

Larkin learned plenty behind Jackson and it showed as he averaged 6.0 yards per touch as a true freshman with 11 catches for 115 yards as well. He looked like the real deal, but was recently forced into an early retirement because of a diagnosed neck injury.

Without Larkin, the Wildcats have little to no run game. No more is Thorson tucking and running for first downs as his hesitancy with his repaired knee is obvious.

Even if Larkin was healthy, Northwestern averages just under 100 yards rushing per game while the Spartans allow just 40 yards per contest. You do the match — that’s not a favorable matchup for the Wildcats.

Northwestern will be lucky to reach the 50-yard mark on the ground against the Spartans.

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