Michigan State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. No. 8 Northwestern

Saturday will mark the third time in five games that Michigan State football will face a ranked opponent. Will the Spartans pull off the Northwestern upset?

Two out of four of Michigan State’s games this season have come against ranked opponents and a third (Iowa) just made the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

On Saturday, that will make three out of five opponents to start the season that have been ranked in the top 25. The Spartans are just 1-3 to begin the Mel Tucker era and that’s just fine because everyone knew this was going to be a rebuilding year. Plus, that win over Michigan in the second game far exceeded expectations.

Michigan State now enters Week 13 after a bye, of sorts, due to COVID-19 making its way through the Maryland program. Now the Spartans will get Northwestern which is ranked No. 8.

Time to be bold.

3. Defense holds Northwestern to 300 yards

If there’s one area that has been improving for the Spartans over the past few games, it’s been the defense. The Spartans played well in the second half of a blowout loss to Iowa and then held Indiana to zero points in the final two quarters.

Defense will be the name of the game in this one and the Spartans’ unit will continue to show improvement as Scottie Hazelton’s crew will hold Northwestern to about 300 yards.

Peyton Ramsey has played well this season for the Wildcats but he’s been far from prolific in the passing game and Northwestern doesn’t exactly have an elite run game.

Two weeks to prepare for this one will show as the defense steps up and makes life difficult for the Wildcats.