The Michigan State Spartans are in dire need of a program-changing season that will push them to the forefront of the Big Ten for years to come. One college football analyst thinks otherwise and projects the Spartans to finish in an almost identical position to last season.
247Sports’ Brad Crawford predicts that Michigan State will not take that step forward that many were hoping to see in Coach Jonathan Smith and starting quarterback Aidan Chiles’ second seasons. He broke down the game-by-game predictions for how the season will pan out.
“Western Michigan (Win), Boston College (Win), Youngstown State (Win), at USC (Loss), at Nebraska (Loss), UCLA (Loss), at Indiana (Loss), Michigan (Loss), at Minnesota (Win), Penn State (Loss), at Iowa (Loss), Maryland (Win),” Crawford wrote. “Early projection: 5-7, 2-7.”
The Spartans finished exactly 5-7 a season ago but were 3-6 in conference play. Crawford sees them taking a big step backward in terms of their competition level in the Big Ten but has them taking care of all three non-conference opponents to start the year 3-0.
“Michigan State could be a thorn in the side of several ranked teams in the Big Ten, but the Spartans are going to have to show more consistency first on both sides of the football,” Crawford wrote. “The first test of the campaign comes at USC, followed by a trip to Nebraska. Michigan and Penn State dot the schedule late.”
The Big Ten is going to be rough for the Spartans this season, starting with two road games that are nowhere close to East Lansing. They come home for their first Big Ten matchup with UCLA and will then play five of their final six games against teams that finished Top 10 in the conference last year.
Crawford hit the nail on the head with his assessment of the Spartans showing more on both sides of the ball. Neither the offense nor defense was strong enough to compete with the upper echelon of conference teams last season, and it cannot be believed until it is proven this year.
It will be interesting to see how the Spartans start this year, and if they do begin the season 3-0, overreactions must be kept to a minimum, considering how last year played out and the dire conference schedule that lies ahead.
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