Michigan State Football: How will Spartans finish 2019 season?
By Stephen Robb
How will Michigan State football fare in its final four games? Can the Spartans make it back to Indianapolis for The Big Ten Championship?
The final four games represent some easy and challenging games for MSU. The Spartans will play inept Illinois and Rutgers, however, they go to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines, but do get a feisty Maryland team at home.
I’ll go ahead and give Michigan State the victories over Rutgers and Illinois. The Wolverines and Terrapins are two teams that I believe could trip up the Spartans.
Michigan has a new offense, but did lose plenty of talent. Yes, the Wolverines return some talent but what type of leaders do they have that can challenge the team? Last year it was Chase Winovich and Devin Bush — losing those guys was huge. Also, new offense coordinator Josh Gattis will be implementing his ‘speed in space’ system and there will be a few bumps along the way as the players adjust. Will MSU win this game? I tend to lean towards yes.
Here is the why. It’s August and I love Michigan State’s defense and while Michigan brings much back on offense, the Wolverines’ defensive departures will hurt. They have talent to replace them, but not the experience.
However, the three teams I believe could trip MSU up are Michigan, Maryland and Northwestern and I would not be surprised if the Spartans lost all or any of those games.
I left Ohio State off the list, because I believe Justin Fields is more of a runner not a thrower. He reminds me of Braxton Miller and I think this Spartan defense can contain him.
Prediction: I have the Spartans going 11-1 and going back to Indy for the Big Ten Championship.