Michigan State Spartans Need to Rebound Against Northwestern

Are we ready to talk about this yet?  I mean, are you over the Arizona State loss yet?  Are you still trying to figure out how the heck that happened?  It’s on to Northwestern today, but I can’t believe the Michigan State Spartans could spoil this tremendous defense.

This Michigan State Spartans defense is spectacular, maybe the best East Lansing has seen under the direction of Mark Dantonio. That’s saying something because Dantonio is a defensive-minded guy, and he’s sure had his fair share of successful defenses over the years.

It’s just hard to stomach that the Spartans have paired this defense with one of the worst offenses in all of college football.  They did accumulate 400 plus yards last week in the home loss to the Herman Edwards’ led Arizona State team but failed to finish drives.  Team’s need to find a way to put the ball into the endzone.

In an article published by the Detroit News, Mark Dantonio talks about how his team is onto faze three;

"“We go through phases here,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “Well, this is phase three now. Phase three started whether we won or lost. Everything else gets wiped away. If we were 3-0, it would be wiped away, too. Maybe not for the peripheral people, but in the big scheme of things, this game is more important than the last game and the next game will always be more important.”"

It’s a great thought, but I can’t seem to get that Arizona State loss out of my head.  Just a year ago the Spartans were up 13-0 at the half on the road only to come away with a 16-13 loss.  It’s simply remarkable what Herm Edwards did last week with a true freshman quarterback against this Spartan defense.  Anyhow, unlike me, the Spartans need to move past it.  They are 0-0 in the Big Ten.  They haven’t hampered their chances at winning the big ten yet, today is the Big Ten opener.

I don’t expect the Wildcats to find much success on offense against this Michigan State Spartans defense.  That being said, the first team to two scores could win this game if last week was any indication.

The Northwestern defense is no slouch either.  It’s ranked as the 28th best defense in the country.  They will provide an issue for Spartans quarterback Brian Lewerke.  Lewerke needs to find a way to turn back the clock to two years ago.  That’s all the Spartans need, a capable QB that can convert on third down and move the chains.  They don’t need a Heisman candidate to have team success playing with that defense.

Michigan State is currently favored on the road by -9.5.  If I were a betting man, I’d be tempted to take Northwestern today.  I expect the Spartans to win but not by 10.  To me, this has the makings of a tight, hard-nosed Big Ten Football type of game.