Staff Predictions: Michigan vs. Michigan State

Rivalry week has a different meaning for Michigan this weekend as the season looms large and Michigan State prepares for a night contest against the Wolverines over the weekend.

Below, the M&BR staff predicts Saturday's game against the Spartans.

Josh Henschke

Somehow, someway you find a way. I think that will be the case here with the Wolverines on Saturday. Looking at the stats, the Wolverines are slightly better than the Spartans and the defense should do enough to disrupt MSU's offense. The question is: Can the offense do enough to win this game? Possibly. There is no denying that this game will set football back a decade with an ugly game.

Michigan 17, Michigan State 14

Dennis Fithian

Having a subpar year after a natty is one thing.

Losing to State would be a completely different matter.

MSU is 4-0 when allowing less than 150 on the floor this year and 0-3 when giving up more than that. You probably know that over the last 55 years, the team that runs the ball better wins almost 90% of the time. This has to be the path to victory for the home team.

UM 19, MSU 16

Trevor McCue

If you had told me that this game at the beginning of the season would be a duel between two unranked 4-3 teams, I wouldn't have believed you. I'm as shocked by how quickly Jonathan Smith's staff has improved Michigan State as I am by the struggles Michigan experienced in its first year under Sherrone Moore.

However, Michigan should win this game. More importantly, they must. A loss here is simply inexcusable. I've long said that I think Harbaugh's loss to MSU in 2020 was the worst of his career. Don’t come at me with the COVID excuses either. It was a bizarre year for everyone, but Michigan was the 24-point favorite because they should have been. This win gave Mel Tucker the fuel he needed this offseason. Kenneth Walker isn't in East Lansing and MSU doesn't win in 2021 without winning in 2020.

You can't give Smith the same fuel. This won't be complicated. Michigan must win the turnover battle. The defense should be able to generate enough pressure against the Spartan offensive line to force Chiles into some mistakes. He and Nick Marsh are likely to do some damage, but there are likely to be turnovers. On offense, feed Mullings and Edwards, do the bare minimum in the passing game, and don't turn over. Players show up for this rivalry game. They are better.

Michigan 24 Michigan State 13

Brock Holy

For Michigan, the goals of a fourth straight Big Ten title and participation in the College Football Playoff are out the window – that's what Colston Loveland said after the loss at Illinois. The All-American tight end also admitted that Michigan's job for the remainder of 2024 is to “ruin people's seasons.” That's a good record after a 21-7 loss, but how motivated will a team full of proven winners be to ruin other teams' seasons? Michigan has already lost as many games this year as in the previous three seasons combined. This type of dysfunction is foreign to almost everyone in the program, and it shows in the way they struggle with it. At times, Michigan looks disinterested — like it's just doing things. Things are going haywire and you can't trust this year's team to rise to this pathetic rivalry game. In addition, it can hardly complete a forward pass. Michigan's best hope of winning this game is to use Alex Orji at quarterback and run the ball 60-65 times. Will the Wolverines utilize this game plan? NO.

Michigan 13, Michigan State 23

Seth Berry

Michigan suffered an absolutely brutal loss to Illinois in a season that went badly. The Wolverines scored just 7 points against the Illini, their worst offensive performance in 10 years. This team desperately needs a win and can certainly regain positivity with a win over their rivals and retaining Paul Bunyan. The problem is that the Spartans enter as a team that has improved significantly under new head coach Jonathan Smith and had a near-complete performance against Iowa last week. The thought that this would be a close game before the season began was once unimaginable, and now that the week is upon us, there's a legitimate chance that MSU comes to Ann Arbor just a year after going 0: 49 defeat achieved a victory. I think MSU gets the job done in a close game and puts Michigan in a dire situation wondering if it will even make a bowl game.

MSU 24, AT 21

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