College Football Lock Alert – Michigan State Spartans vs. Michigan Wolverines

Michigan State Spartans vs. Michigan Wolverines

Saturday, October 3—Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI — 12:00pm EST

NCAA Betting Line: Michigan State -3 1/2 (54)

Michigan and Michigan State will continue one of the nation’s most underrated rivalries Saturday at Spartan Stadium in a game that has taken on a nasty tone as of late.

The Ohio State game gets all the publicity among Wolverines rivalry games but the players say the MSU game is the hardest-hitting of the year.

UM comes into the matchup 4-0 against the 1-3 Spartans but remains the underdog surprisingly enough in the BetOnline.com Sportsbook.

Many circles had the Michigan Wolverines as the favorite, but the line has moved firmly in the direction of MSU during the week. Part of that may have to do with Michigan QB Tate Forcier’s shoulder injury, but Forcier was able to throw in practice on Wednesday and should be ready to go.

The weather for the game is predicted to be around 45 degrees Fahrenheit for this noon game with the chance of rain listed around 60%. If that is indeed the case and the rain begins to fall on Saturday, the edge would probably go to the Wolverines, who have a decided advantage on the ground and in the trenches.

UM boasts the best run offense in the Big Ten and ranks 8 th nationally while MSU has struggled against the only two teams they’ve faced with any sort of run game, Notre Dame and Wisconsin last week. MSU is so thin on the d-line that they will move offensive lineman Blake Treadwell to DT this weekend.

By the same token, MSU has the top pass offense in the Big Ten and Michigan’s secondary has been a problem most of the year.
Michigan will get some help however as safety Mike Williams returns from injury. Williams is solid but the best news is that he will replace walk-on safety Jordan Kovacs, shoring up a huge void in Michigan’s back end.

This will be a shootout and a high-scoring game, but with UM running the ball with a vengeance and rain expected, the Wolverines should come out on top.

Even though Tate Forcier is a freshman, he has already proven himself much more reliable in the clutch than fellow QB Kirk Cousins, MSU’s starter. Keith Nichol might even see time for MSU like last week if Cousins continues making mistakes.

The pick: Michigan (+3 ½) and the over (54)