It’s hard to believe that Michigan State football has any advantages against upcoming opponents anymore, but Jonathan Smith’s team is staring at a few against Minnesota this weekend.
They’re not the biggest advantages that you could imagine, but they could still be enough to pull off the road “upset” this weekend in Minneapolis.
What advantages do the Spartans have over Minnesota?
1. The receiving corps
While Minnesota does have some good receivers like Le’Meke Brockington, Javon Tracy, and Jalen Smith, they don’t truly compare to what Michigan State has in Nick Marsh, Omari Kelly, and Chrishon McCray. Michigan State has a clear advantage in the receiving corps and the weapons at the Spartan quarterbacks’ disposal tops what Minnesota features.
The Spartans have several weapons in the receiving corps that could give Minnesota some problems. Although Brockington, Smith, and Tracy can be a problem for the mediocre Spartan secondary, too.
Still, Michigan State has an advantage here.
2. Field position battle
What does this mean? Well, it means that Michigan State has a better punter than Minnesota. While Brody Richter has been solid this season, he’s no Ryan Eckley.
Richter is averaging about 42 yards per punt this season while Eckley is over 50 yards per punt. So if this comes down to a defensive battle where field position is king, Michigan State will have the advantage.
It’s not much, but it matters.
3. Turnovers
This isn’t exactly a major advantage, but Michigan State’s quarterbacks haven’t turned the ball over as much as Minnesota’s. In fact, Alessio Milivojevis and Aidan Chiles have combined for four interceptions this season while Minnesota’s quarterbacks have a combined seven.
That means that if Michigan State can somehow get to the quarterback more than it has over the first eight games, it could force Drake Lindsey into some bad decisions and turnovers.
Fortunately, Chiles and Milivojevic have been much more careful with the ball this season.