Mike Germanese
Author
East Lansing, MI., will host the 118 meeting in the backyard brawl. An in-state rivalry between No. 25 Michigan (5-2, 3-1) and Michigan State (3-4, 0-4). Michigan has won three straight over the Spartans and had a big win over Washington, 24-7, last Saturday. On the contrary, Michigan State enters the game looking for its first win in Big Ten conference play.
Michigan State hasn’t been good, and Michigan is coming in as more than a 13-point favorite. The hype this game usually receives is missing; the week leading up to the game hasn’t had the same in-state championship feeling it usually has. But despite all that, the outcome will play a massive role in determining how the 2025 season is viewed for both programs.
A win for Michigan and the goal of making the college football playoff is still right in front of them. A win for Michigan State and Jonathan Smith cools the calls for his job, and the goal of making a bowl game becomes within reach.
In past games, records could be thrown out the window, and anything could happen. Sherrone Moore, in his weekly press conference, said, “Records don’t matter. Records do not matter in this game. So you can’t look at the past and say, Oh, they’re gonna do that.” That might not be the case anymore. If it’s not, State lost one of its biggest advantages, and Michigan will be able to turn this into the game it wants to play.
The one thing that made Michigan/Michigan State was the hatred from the top down in each program. Smith came to East Lansing from the West Coast and didn’t understand what the in-state rivalry meant. For Michigan State, it’s their biggest game of the year. For Michigan, it’s not the biggest game of the year, that’s Ohio State, but it is, however, their biggest must-win game. A loss to Ohio State can be justified, but Michigan looks at MSU as an inferior program, making a loss indefensible and unexplainable.
Michigan State coaches used that arrogance against Michigan. It was motivation for every player 365 days a year. Even during the years Mark Dantonio dominated the rivalry, he still used that arrogance to his advantage.
In the past regime, coaches drilled into their players for 365 days how Michigan looked down on and disrespected Michigan State. Whether it was true or not, it was that belief that had Spartan players ready to fight, battle, and go to war in this game. It’s that fight that made records mean nothing. Under Smith, that fight that could overcome things like talent no longer exists.
What Michigan has been great at in recent years is dictating the pace and style of the game they want to play. Michigan’s ability to get teams into a street fight instead of a street race has played a big part in their success. Michigan is going to try to dictate the game Saturday. The question can MSU stop them?
Whether it’s Justice Haynes or Jordan Marshall, Michigan will want to run the ball to keep Michigan State’s two best players sitting on the sidelines in Aidan Chiles and Nick Marsh. Michigan ranks fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 236 yards a game this season. Michigan State comes into the game with the 11th-best rush defense in the Big Ten, allowing 131.3 yards a game. The Spartans also come into the game 11th in tackles for loss in the Big Ten.
If Michigan State can’t stop the run, letting Michigan make this into a 3-yards and a cloud of dust type of game, it’s going to be death by a thousand papercuts for State on Saturday.
For Michigan State, it’s about turning this into a street race and forcing Michigan away from the run. If they can take the run game away from the Wolverines, this will be Smith’s first signature win at Michigan State. Michigan ranks 13th (205.7) in passing yards per game and 16th in passing touchdowns. Michigan’s run game sets the tone for the entire offense; if the run game is not going, the offense isn’t.
Saturday is going to be an uphill fight for Michigan State, a fight State hasn’t shown in them this year. Considering Fans are already questioning if they quit in three or four games this season. The truth is, it’s a fight that a fraction of the MSU fan base hopes they don’t have, with the hopes that a big Michigan win means the end of the Smith era after the game.
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