Michigan State football is gearing up for one of its most important games of the season on Saturday afternoon as it’ll host a somewhat hapless UCLA team.
I say somewhat hapless because the Bruins showed some life in Week 6, upsetting No. 7 Penn State in one of the more shocking results of the weekend. This team gained a ton of confidence, which isn’t the best news for Michigan State.
The Spartans lost to Nebraska on the road after giving away a second-half lead last weekend. It feels like both teams are trending in opposite directions, but it’s a must-win for Michigan State.
Let’s get bold.
1. Nick Marsh goes over 100 yards for the first time
It’s hard to believe that Nick Marsh has zero 100-yard games this season, but the Spartans’ WR1 has had to split targets with guys like Omari Kelly and Chrishon McCray, but I’m going to predict that he cracks that plateau against the Bruins — especially after that exchange between Aidan Chiles and Marsh on the sidelines at Nebraska regarding targets.
Jonathan Smith said he was going to make sure Marsh got the ball more and we’re going to see that start on Saturday afternoon as he goes for 121 yards and a touchdown on eight catches.
2. No turnovers
Aidan Chiles had his worst game of the season against Nebraska despite rushing for two big touchdowns. He passed for just 85 yards and two interceptions and the Spartans looked lost when he was turning the ball over. He’s going to shake the turnover bug this week.
UCLA doesn’t have a great pass rush and the Spartans have something to prove, so they’re going to keep Chiles upright and Michigan State is going to be safe with the ball.
Michigan State won’t turn the ball over and it’ll force two by the Bruins.
3. Michigan State wins by two scores
The spread for Saturday’s game was a little surprising. The Spartans were only favored by 8.5 points despite being the better team and playing at home. If UCLA had never beaten UCLA, the spread would be closer to 13.5 points or more.
We’ll see that on Saturday.
Michigan State will flex its muscle and play like the team we expected to see after the first three games while UCLA will regress back to where it’s been all season. Michigan State wins this one by two touchdowns, 34-20.