Predictions about this Week's Game v. Sparty
Mates,
Like everyone here, I was very glad to see so much of our team's play last night against a highly ranked opponent. The game plan, multiple players at QB, shut-down defense, so much to love. That said, we're going to EL this week and give Dantonio his due, he can coach and his hate (and steroid) infused team is going to be flying high after a dramatic win in Happy Valley. Not going to be easy.
So the question is pretty simple: What is your prediction for this week's game vs. MSU?
bonus check out question: Would you be willing to contribute to a fund to save EL furniture from the fires of hades that will happen, win or lose, on Saturday?
Go Blue,
XM
October 15th, 2018 at 8:23 PM ^
Chewing and Jarvis played aginst penn state.
Beedle will still be out.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
PSU is not that good. They got credit for choking against OSU but otherwise what have they done? MSU got a gift from a mediocre PSU team yesterday. We are on a revenge tour and will come to East Lansing on a mission to pay back a decade of bullshit. I expect a similar score to yesterday as Michigan bombs the Spartans from sea, land, and air.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
Refs kept Sparty drives going numerous times on very shaky calls.
Psu dropped multiple picks also.
If refs call game fair - M should roll them. Odds of refs being fair...?
October 14th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
What were the shaky calls? You also have to remember PSU clearly fumbled the ball in their own end of the field twice, both of which were blown dead. Instead of MSU having the ball in PSU territory, PSU prolonged their drives.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:11 AM ^
Anyone have an updated injury list for this weekend for both teams?
October 14th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
I think it’ll be a close, hard-fought game. Good guys win 24-17.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
If Lewerki has to throw 50 times, he will be on his back starring at the sky all night. I feel for him.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:30 AM ^
24-17 MSU.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^
Almost all of MSU's injured players will return, they will run lots of new looks, play dirty and dantonio will explode at any ref who throws a flag, but hopefully the game runs away from them in the 3rd-4th quarter.
I still expect little brother to play close. As we saw yesterday, even if he falls vs crappy teams (this is an MSU tradition), he still fully comes to play all out vs Michigan.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
M 37-13.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
Our DLine is going to destroy Lewerke. A healthier Rashan Gary back in the line-up is huge regardless of his sack numbers (he demands double and triple teams, which allows open lanes to the QB for other defenders).
That said, I hope our defense isn’t over-aggressive. Contain the run game and play the ball in the secondary. The sacks, INTs, break-ups, and TFLs will be there for the taking. Safety help over the top on Davis and strategically give the green light to Bush and Hudson to put Lewerke straight on his back.
Forget the gadget plays on offense, unless/until we have a sizeable lead. Come out throwing the ball and use the TEs effectively. Hit both Evans and Higdon on screens, wheel routes, as safety valves, etc... After we open it up, gash them on the ground. Tire out their thin defense, and pound the ball.
31-17 Good Guys.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
Well, what's the weather report?
October 14th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
Partly cloudy with a high of 50. At least that's it right now.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
I predict that when we win, there will be heaps of excuses about their injuries with rounds of bro-hugs reminiscing about the days when they won the game on the last play of the game.
October 14th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
I should add...
What's the weather forecast for next Saturday in EL? We don't need another act of god to advantage Sparty. In fact, with all that has happened in EL they deserve the exact opposite.
October 14th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
Michigan manages to come in over-confident and unprepared for yet another road game with reasons only known to God.
I'd temper your expectations until Michigan can look like even half of it's usual self when on the road.
27-24 MSU
October 14th, 2018 at 12:39 PM ^
Maybe that's where the Penn State win will benefit Michigan. We now know MSU is capable of not totally sucking. (Although I still maintain that they looked largely like shit yesterday). We all have every reason to feel cautious. Last year about did me in. But we have a QB now. If we had Shea last year we'd have won. He wouldn't have made the same mistakes. (3 interceptions thrown by O'Korn in the 2nd half). I get how the weather sucked, and we will benefit from a good weather day Saturday, but I really feel like this is a different team right now.
October 15th, 2018 at 5:13 AM ^
There is ZERO chance Michigan will not be prepared and over confident. Could they lose? Yes, but it won't be due to over confidence and lack of preparation.
October 14th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
31-14 Michigan
October 14th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
I believe Michigan is in control of their destiny in this game. Sounds like an obvious point, but if Michigan plays to their potential we will win easily. MSU's ceiling is no where close to Michigan's right now. Penn State shot themselves in the foot several times and MSU got some lucky breaks. How many of their own fumbles did they recover? Credit to MSU for their composure at the end, but I'm not worried about next week. We will likely rely on our passing game...but we can do that now.
October 14th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
Similar to the last few years, I see UM with a talent advantage but MSU with a mental advantage. But hopefully the talent advantage is too much for Sparty to overcome.
UM 17, MSU 16
October 14th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
The mental advantage? I'm not sure I agree...
October 14th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
I just mean that until UM beats Sparty a few times, they seem to have more confidence in this game. And there is an inherent asymmetry where we are their primary rival, but MSU will never be UM's primary rival.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
Very good point.
October 14th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
I don't think that MSU has had an unwarranted "more confidence in this game." They fully deserved their confidence in the RR and Hoke era, and have been running scared in the Harbaugh era (and, though they've won 2 of 3, none of them believed they deserved both of those wins). What they do seem to have as an advantage over Michigan is in focus. They totally sell out to win that game, and a lot of Michigan teams (including last year's) did not.
October 14th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^
Michigan has given up most of their meaningful points this year in the first half. We’ve had injuries to Gary or Hudson that hurt our defense somewhat in those halves. If we have all our starters vs MSU, I think we dominate Sparty. That said, I think Michigan also gets a ton of penalties that will keep Sparty in it. If we can avoid penalties too, then I predict we shut out Sparty.
October 14th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
this game is won in the trenches, and Michigan easily has the better Oline and Dline. They got insanely lucky against penn st. Lewerke shouldve had atleast 4 interceptions yesterday
October 14th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
The field was crowned and it rained
October 14th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
UM 24 - MSU 17. I would like to see our team physically punish them nearly as much as I would like the team to win. I am so pissed at the MSU dirty play against us. I am getting angry just thinking about it. They need to be punished. PHYSICALLY PUNISHED!
October 14th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
What has UM been ranked going into MSU game in Dantonio era?
October 14th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
Michigan by a million. This MSU being equal bullshit is over.
October 14th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
I think Mork intentionally lost that Northwestern game just to screw with Michigan. I don’t think Wisconsin is that good and I think Staee would beat them. Staee is much better than their record suggests.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:16 PM ^
Makes perfect sense. He's a diabolical madman. It's all part of his master plan and Michigan is falling into their trap. Maybe Michigan beating Wisconsin is somehow part of his evil plan too. Maybe everyone is in on his madness.
October 14th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
I think mike lost that game because dedicating 25% of every practice to Michigan is a bad idea.
October 15th, 2018 at 6:27 PM ^
Ty...
Didn’t you say Wisconsin was going to put together long drives and you don’t believe in Michigan to win big games?
now Wisconsin isn’t good?
I would argue that MSU is better than the record, if they lost to good teams, but they lost to mediocre teams.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
The mopey woe-is-me comments from some of you is just embarrassing. The complete Michigan team, coaches and players, seem pretty capable and focused right now. We are in a good place.
October 14th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
While not really embarrassed, I too think this ball club is ready. I feel very good about our chances. But....also understand why fans are a little apprehensive. Last year was an absolute bitch. It was a hard game to digest. What makes this year different you ask? Shea Patterson.
October 15th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^
Shea.
No Isaac fumble.
Defense playing at same level as 2016.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:32 PM ^
A few observations: Penn State was overrated this year, and the chinks in their armor were showing early in the season. MSU is who they always are - knife fighters. That works well if a knife or fists are all the other team has. But you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, and this year Michigan’s gun is loaded on offense and defense.
MSU’s decent QB and one great receiver don’t have enough to overcome the bullets in Michigan’s gun.
Michigan will hang a lot of points on Sparty this year. I think we win convincingly.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:34 PM ^
Concerining Sparty, I'm going to say the same thing I said in another place:
1.) Lewerke had less than 50% completion. He threw a LOT and had only had two touchdowns to show for it. And PSU's defense, while decent, is not our defense.
2.) PSU was as much to blame for their loss as MSU is to be credited. Some examples:
-Franklin went for it at least once on 4th down when they were in range for a field goal. And I'm pretty sure that wasn't the only time that happened.
-McSorely went out of bounds on the last third down possession. Had he stayed in, the clock would have kept running and MSU would not have had nearly as much time to go down the field.
3.) While Wisky is not the best defense in the world, they are a good defense, and we mopped them up pretty well. I believe that we will have no issues with ball movement against Sparty.
4.) Shea Patterson has seen FAR MORE effective defenses in his time as a player than MSU's defense. Keep in mind he's played Bama and LSU, both of whom I would rank as superior to Sparty in effective defense. And, he's playing with a much improved O-line now.
5.) All three QBs ran the ball at one point-for positive yards. Whether we realized it or not, Harbaugh sent a message to every DC out in the B1G last night: you can stuff our run, and we'll pass over you. You can stuff our pass, and we'll run over you. And, we have dual threats... REAL dual threats. Try to stop us.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
yup, yup, yup ,yup and yup.
October 14th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^
Well I guess well see if this holds true because Sparty will most assuredly try to stuff the run and then try to pressure Patterson and try to use zones to cover
October 14th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
Have no doubt: Michigan is the stronger team. The only thing that can lose this game for Michigan is if it folds psychologically. Time to get that monkey off the team's back.
October 14th, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
I predict PAIN
October 14th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Whatever the line is, MSU will definitely cover as they always do in this game under MD. It's probably going to be single digits, which means either a loss or nerve-wrackingly close win.
October 15th, 2018 at 5:22 AM ^
And Wisconsin had not lost a road game by more than 7 points in a long time. But yet, they lost by 25. I do think game may be close in first half. I think Michigan pulls away. An errant Lewerke pass caused by Michigan pass rush will likely change tide to good guys and Michigan will start to roll. Seeing 27-13 Michigan
October 14th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
I always love when people talk down about PED use in sports with that steroid jab at MSU.
Do you know how easy it is to pass NCAA tests? And do you know that the NCAA can't detect HGH use with their tests? The naivety regarding PED's is pretty laughable to me.
October 14th, 2018 at 8:06 PM ^
23-17 Michigan
late chris Evans screen to the house seals the deal
October 15th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
24-19 Michigan....
I like the idea of Evans taking it to the house!
Please just win!
October 14th, 2018 at 10:15 PM ^
The correct answer as always is "pain".
State wins 27-23. Patterson is overwhelmed in first start in this rivalry and fumbles once and throws two picks