Michigan State Football: 3 reasons Spartans will upset No. 6 Michigan

Saturday is going to be a heck of a day for Michigan and Michigan State football fans. The No. 6 Wolverines and No. 8 Spartans will meet up in East Lansing for the first time since 2018 with a lot on the line. Michigan State is hoping to upset Michigan for a second straight season.

The winner of this game is going to be in the thick of the College Football Playoff race when the first rankings come out on Nov. 2 and also Ohio State’s biggest competition for a Big Ten title.

Mel Tucker is looking to move to 2-0 against Michigan as head coach while Jim Harbaugh might be fighting to stay off the hot seat.

Here’s why Michigan State will beat No. 6 Michigan on Saturday afternoon.

3. Michigan State’s pass defense continues to improve

Michigan State’s secondary ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten in passing yards allowed per game and in the 100s in the country. That’s not great, looking at it objectively.

But when you dive into the numbers, you realize that the Spartans have been effective against the pass given the number of times teams have thrown against them. In fact, the Spartans rank 18th in the country in yards per attempt at 6.3. That’s a really good number and they’ve actually gotten better as the season has gone along.

In fact, Michigan State hasn’t surrendered a passing touchdown since Western Kentucky in Week 5. The Spartans did have a bye, so saying that it’s been three weeks since the team surrendered a passing touchdown would be disingenuous, but two games without allowing one is still solid.

Mix in the fact that Cade McNamara hasn’t been a prolific passer this season and you have a defense that’s ready to feast on an unproven quarterback with no true No. 1 receiver.

This might end up being the secondary’s best game yet.