Pat Fitzgerald won a lot of Michigan State fans over last weekend with a signature win at Michigan while the Spartans were two-score underdogs.
He’s trying to parlay that into another “upset” win over Washington on Saturday after taking to the streets of East Lansing this week and recruiting students to come out in full force to support the Spartans as they face another must-win situation with a bowl berth still alive.
Michigan State has some momentum after the big win over in-state rival Michigan, bringing Paul Bunyan home on what had to be the most fun trip of the season by a mile.
Realistically, though, Michigan State should probably be 5-4 instead of 3-6 and in a really strong position to make a bowl game, but the Northwestern and Illinois games were a bounce or two away from going the Spartans’ way. The Northwestern game was in the bag until some late-game chokage led to a heartbreaking loss for Fitzgerald’s against his former school.
Now the Spartans will take on an underwhelming 5-4 Washington team that was expecting to compete in the Big Ten this year but they’ve fallen far short of expectations.
Jedd Fisch still has a talented team and they’re entering Saturday’s game as the slight favorite to beat the suddenly-confident and buzzing Spartans.
Odds via DraftKings as of Saturday, Nov. 14.
Line: Washington +2.5
Over/Under: 44.5
Moneyline: Washington -135 | Michigan State +114
The Spartans are underdogs on their own turf but will look to record a second straight win as an underdog. Imagine if they had won the Illinois and Northwestern games. This program would have all the juice right now.
Will Michigan State take another step forward?
It’s tough to predict this one because Michigan State is without several key players again and likely starting preseason “RB4/5” Brandon Tullis. That won’t matter against this middle-of-the-road Washington defense. If he can rush for nearly 100 against a top-15 Michigan defense, he can definitely push 100 against Washington.
We’re going to see the offense finish more drives (it wouldn’t take much to improve from last week) and the Spartans will carry last weekend’s momentum over into Saturday night’s game.
Fitzgerald will coach another solid game and the team will show improvement for a fourth time in five games, beating the Huskies to really have people talking about a bowl berth.
He’s building this thing one game at a time.
Final score: Washington 20, Michigan State 27
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