Saturday’s Michigan State vs Eastern Michigan game isn’t exactly considered a headliner with games like Oklahoma vs Michigan and Ohio State vs Texas also taking place in Week 2, but the Spartans’ matchup is more important than people realize.
No, there probably isn’t the same amount of anxiety and nerves for this game as there was for the Toledo matchup in the opener, but this matchup is going to be used to clean things up before the Notre Dame game in South Bend next week.
Michigan State opened as a pretty comfortable favorite against Eastern Michigan despite having a few Spartans return to East Lansing seeking revenge. Noah Kim, Cole Dellinger, and Caleb Coley will all be back in Spartan Stadium for the first time since transferring and they all want to beat their old friends. Wanting to and doing it are two completely different things.
And Vegas agrees.
The final betting odds aren’t giving Eastern Michigan much of a shot to keep things close.
Final betting odds for Michigan State vs Eastern Michigan
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of Sept. 12.
Line: Michigan State -17.5
Over/Under: 49.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -900 | Eastern Michigan +600
As you can see, Vegas isn’t super high on Eastern Michigan despite Toledo holding a one-point lead over the Spartans in the fourth quarter last Friday. The Eagles are coming off a home loss to San Jose State so that probably plays into this line heavily.
Never underestimate a revenge game, though.
Final score prediction for Michigan State vs EMU
Eastern Michigan isn’t the pushover that many people assume and that’s because Chris Creighton has built quite the program in Ypsilanti.
However, Pat Fitzgerald has cleaned some things up after the opener and he’ll have the Spartans ready to go on Saturday afternoon. The first drive will result in a touchdown for Michigan State and the Spartans will finish more drives with touchdowns than field goals which will already be an improvement. Cam Edwards is going to have a big game with over 100 yards and Alessio Milivojevic will be near-perfect again.
Kim is going to struggle against his former team while the Spartans run up the score in the third quarter to run away with it.
Final score: Eastern Michigan 16, Michigan State 38
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