Michigan Football: 5 things to know about Michigan State
Michigan State week has arrived for Michigan football and here are five things you need to know about the Spartans.
If you didn’t know how important the Michigan State game is for Michigan football, all you needed to do what listen to Jim Harbaugh’s press conference Monday to realize the importance.
Harbaugh said it was important to the team to win the game and that it was really important to him to beat the Spartans.
It’s not hard to figure out why. Harbaugh is 3-4 against the Spartans and 0-2 against Mel Tucker. He mentioned Michigan State and Ohio State as the two games Michigan football always wanted to win before the season and it’s time for the Wolverines to reclaim the state.
Harbaugh: “Our guys really want to win this. I’m not going to lie to you — I really want to win this”
— angelique (@chengelis) October 24, 2022
Michigan football is a three-touchdown favorite right now, but the Spartans have won against Michigan as big underdogs before.
It’s hard to see it happening again, but you never know. The two teams will meet Saturday night at the Big House and here are five things to know about the Spartans.
1. The run defense hasn’t been good
Michigan State wasn’t a great defensive team last year but the Spartans have really struggled in 2022 and even in their win over Wisconsin, they allowed over 150 yards on the ground.
The Spartans rank 11th in the Big Ten in rushing yards allowed per game and 11th in the Big Ten in rushing yards per attempt (4.0). That’s not a great sign for Michigan State coming into this game.
The Wolverines are going to try and pound the rock as much as possible. It’s clear that’s the way Jim Harbaugh and company want to play and they should. They have arguably the best running back in the country and maybe the best offensive line.
There’s a reason Harbaugh was wearing a “run the damn ball” T-shirt this offseason. It’s how the Wolverines beat Ohio State and you can bet they are going try and beat MSU the same way.