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Michigan State football: 3 reasons Spartans will beat Washington in Week 3

By Connor Muldowney

Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne (10) and center Nick Samac (59) ready to take the field for warm up before the Akron game at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.
Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne (10) and center Nick Samac (59) ready to take the field for warm up before the Akron game at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. /
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Here we are, just a day away from what is sure to be a huge showdown between Michigan State football and Washington in Seattle.

The Spartans will hit the West Coast where Big Ten teams have struggled over the years and they’ll take on one of the better Pac-12 teams this season. The Huskies are 2-0 and have had no shortage of points scored through two weeks.

Experts as well as Vegas have been predicting a Washington win here and the Spartans are actually underdogs as the No. 11 team in the country.

Here’s why I think the Spartans will win and improve to 3-0 on the season.

3. Michigan State football is familiar with Michael Penix Jr.

In two career matchups with Michigan State, Michael Penix Jr. is 1-1 and he’s averaging 303 passing yards per game and he has five touchdowns with two interceptions.

He lost to the Spartans 40-31 in 2019 but turned around and dominated them in 2020 with a 24-0 win in East Lansing that every Michigan State fan is still trying to forget. He looked solid in both games and Mel Tucker was able to face him one time before he was injured in 2021 and then transferred to Washington before this season. That should be enough familiarity to help out here.

Tucker has a game plan for him based on what he’s seen in person as well as what he’s seen from the healthy Penix through two games this season.

Familiarity is going to help the Spartans here and the fact that he’s not an elusive runner is only going to help. Just need to get to him quickly because he gets the ball out fast.

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