Michigan State Football: Way-too-early prediction for Western Kentucky battle

I’ll admit it. I might be drinking the green kool-aid. However, unlike previous seasons, this year feels different. There is a reason for true optimism with Mel Tucker: there appears to be an influx of new talent via the transfer portal.

I will make this caveat, if the Spartans lose to Northwestern I would not be surprised. And if they perform poorly against Miami, that’s an indicator that this team has a long way to go in order to be a winning program.

This is a way-too-early preview that is concentrating on the positives of what could be if this team comes together ahead of the Western Kentucky game.

In Week 5, MSU takes on the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky coached by Tyson Helton. He is the brother of USC coach Clay Helton. They were 5-7 in 2020 and what stood out to me was that they did not do well against major programs. They lost big to a bad Louisville team at the start of the season.

However, Western Kentucky did well in 2019 finishing with a 9-4 record. It has proven in the past to be a sneaky good team that can surprise opponents if given the opportunity.

Michigan State will be coming off a big win against Nebraska and will have to prove that it’s real and not a pretender. I’ll be looking for Michigan State to control this game on the ground and come up with a win.

Prediction: WKU 14, Michigan State 31

I can see MSU getting up early on the Hilltoppers and then giving many other non-starters some playing time. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for WKU to beat the Spartans. Again, this prediction is based on the idea that the Spartans have been able to use the previous weeks to gel together. By the time October rolls around, we will have a great idea of what this team will be.