Michigan State and Northwestern square off on October 17, with plenty of storylines surrounding each team.
Coming off of a homecoming loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Spartans are going to have to rebound quickly when Northwestern comes to town. There are plenty of intriguing storylines in this game, with Northwestern coming in as a 9.5-point favorite and ranked. The exciting part is Fitzgerald taking on his former team, as he last coached Northwestern and played for their football team when he was in college. This is a game Fitzgerald will surely want to win to stick it to his former team.
On the other side, Northwestern is led by quarterback Aidan Chiles, former Michigan State quarterback. Chiles has looked really good to start the year, played arguably his best game in primetime against Indiana, and now has a chance to stick it to the Spartans back in their own stadium.
Northwestern, as a team overall, comes in with the advantage, as they have a higher-powered offense led by Chip Kelly and a defense that bends but does not break. Northwestern averages 437.4 yards per game and 203 yards per game on the ground. Their ground attack ranks 32nd in the FBS. They are coming off of a game against Penn State two weeks ago, where they ran for 413 yards.
What was something Michigan State struggled to do against Wisconsin two weeks ago? They struggled to stop the run with a running quarterback, which is what Chiles is. Chip Kelly’s run-first offense will give the Spartans fits throughout the game, especially if they will be without their top two linebackers, who exited the Illinois loss early with injuries.
On the other hand, Northwestern’s defense gives up a lot of yards but holds when it comes to scoring. They give up 380.6 total yards per game but only give up 16.2 points per game. It will be hard for this Michigan State offense to score on the Wildcats, especially if they find themselves in a deep hole like they did against Illinois.
Alessio Milivojevic is going to have to find his groove early against a defense that allows 233 passing yards per game. Last week, he had a really nice game in the second half, and he needs to carry that with him to this week. They tried to get going early with an explosive flea flicker, where Alessio ended up eating the ball and taking a sack. They will have to try a play like that again early in the game to take Northwestern off guard. Let the ball rip early and often in this ball game.
Jaziun Patterson is also coming off of a nice performance, where he rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns. If the offensive line can open up lanes for him like they did last Saturday, then he can have another good game.
This game should be a fun one to watch in East Lansing, as both teams have something to prove. Northwestern seems like a good team this year, and Aidan Chiles wants to prove his worth to MSU by beating them in their stadium. Fitzgerald wants to show that he has this program headed in the right direction and can move past his Wildcat days. This will be a very intriguing game in the early window to keep an eye out for.
