3 Keys for Michigan Football to beat Michigan State
By Adam Childs
1. Get ahead early
Saturday is a rivalry game and funny things can happen in these games. Underdogs can pull off upsets or keep a game close that they have no business being in. On paper, this is a game that the Spartans shouldn’t be in, but they still might be.
Because of this, the Wolverines need to get ahead early. They need to make sure they bury them early and not give them any hope in this game. Letting them stay in the game early can be a snowball effect that often leads to upsets.
Michigan needs to come out with its foot on the accelerator and show the Spartans that they have no business being in the game. And to be honest, if they come out with the gameplan they did against Minnesota they should be in good shape.
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The Spartan defense didn’t play terribly against Rutgers, as they were often put in bad situations. But even with that, they didn’t get the stops they needed to. They only gave up 276 yards of total offense, but nobody is going to confuse the Scarlet Knights of being an offensive juggernaut.
Michigan needs to get after them on defense, force turnovers, and then turn that into points and do it early. They did a great job of jumping on Minnesota after that first touchdown and never looked back. The second half seemed more like a foregone conclusion than anything else. Let’s hope the Wolverines can do that again this Saturday.