Michigan State and Nebraska are meeting up on Saturday evening for what should be one of the best games of the week and it’ll also be emotional as the two teams remember Sam Foltz and Mike Sadler who passed away tragically in a car accident 10 years ago.
These two programs will forever be linked because of tragedy, and they will be remembered on Saturday.
It’ll be an emotional game in East Lansing, but it also figures to be and old-school Big Ten battle between two coaches with Big Ten roots who preach toughness. Pat Fitzgerald and Matt Rhule are both looking to turn their respective programs around and Saturday night will be the perfect opportunity for each to make a statement.
So without further ado, let’s get bold ahead of the Big Ten opener.
1. Chrishon McCray racks up 100 yards
After the Notre Dame loss, Fitzgerald spoke about wanting to get his playmakers more involved, and he singled Chrishon McCray out by name. That feels like some foreshadowing.
McCray has seen his targets and catches both decrease over the past two weeks since catching eight passes for 69 yards in the opener, but Alessio Milivojevic is going to rekindle that connection with his favorite target from a season ago. The two are going to connect seven times for 108 yards and a long touchdown that will give the offense life in the first half.
McCray will finally reach the century mark after being hyped up all offseason to just have 11 receptions for 84 yards through three games.
2. MSU holds Anthony Colandrea under 200 yards
Anthony Colandrea is currently Pro Football Focus’ top-graded quarterback in the country through three weeks and he has yet to be held under 200 total yards this season, but Michigan State is going to change that.
The defense is going to show up well-prepared for this one and after listening to how upset Fitzgerald was about the Notre Dame loss, I’d be shocked to see many defensive miscues. That’s what I’m going with a sub-200-yard game for Colandrea which hasn’t happened for him since Oct. 4 of last season when he was still at UNLV.
Michigan State’s defense will make a statement against the veteran quarterback on Saturday evening, but will the same be said about Jamal Rule?
3. Upset city
Nebraska is already on upset alert heading into Week 4, but Cornhusker fans are confident that their 3-0 team is going to walk into East Lansing and walk out with a fairly easy win.
In my best Lee Corso voice: “Not so fast, my friend.”
Michigan State just hung with the No. 3 team in the country on the road for three quarters, but we’re going to see a complete four-quarter effort on Saturday as the Spartans go punch-for-punch with the red-hot Cornhuskers, leading to a final drive in the fourth quarter that leads to a game-winning field goal off the foot of Liam Boyd.
Michigan State not only covers the +5.5 as an underdog, but it pulls off the upset, 27-24.
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