Michigan State Football: Ranking Spartans’ 2020 opponents by toughness

Northwestern had a nightmare season in 2019, going just 3-9 and winning a single Big Ten game in the finale against Illinois. The Wildcats had a serious quarterback issue as Hunter Johnson came over from Clemson and was expected to be a star right away, but he looked more like a confused walk-on than anything else.

Peyton Ramsey comes over from Indiana to take over at quarterback and that’s bad news for the rest of the Big Ten because he’s a baller and gives the Wildcats a serious offensive threat.

Something whacky always happens with Northwestern and this matchup will likely be no different.

While Ramsey might be in Evanston now, quarterbacking the Wildcats of Northwestern, Indiana has a more intriguing option under center in Michael Penix Jr. who passed for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He also almost helped the Hoosiers pull off an upset of Michigan State in the opening month of the year.

Indiana continues to get better each season under Tom Allen and with guys like Stevie Scott, Sampson James, Whop Philyor, Peyton Hendershot and Ty Fryfogle back, the offense should be legit. The defense returns nine starters to the No. 36 unit in the country.

It won’t be long before Indiana is a top-four opponent on the schedule in terms of toughness.