Michigan State Football: 3 goals for Week 8 vs. Michigan

3. Don’t embarrass yourself

Look, there is such a low probability that the Spartans upset the Wolverines, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t make it a respectable loss. Michigan is better at every position outside of field goal kicker.

For the Spartans to win, Michigan will have to play a B-/C+ game while every lucky bounce and lucky call goes for the Spartans. The easy call is that Michigan continues to blow out their lesser opponent but this game has to mean more to the Spartans than it does to a team like Indiana or Nebraska.

Right now, every Spartan stereotype that snobby Michigan fans usually believe is true. This football program is in the gutter, the team can’t stop throwing up on itself, and it’s a second-class citizen in the world of college football. They have every reason to look down on Sparty and even if MSU wins 23 in a row, that first win in 24 tries will have Michigan fans screaming “little brother” and “We own the state!”

I just beg this team to not beat itself.

If the Spartans play their ‘A’ game, they can keep it close. They are limiting opponents to a measly 3.5 yards per carry, and we’ve seen that JJ McCarthy is prone to mistakes in big games (fumble against Michigan State in 2021, only completing 53 percent against Illinois last year, and getting bailed out by officials, and of course, the TCU game).

Take pride in your school, no matter how bleak the future looks.