Media Prediction Thread: Michigan State at Minnesota

BleedGopher

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CBS. I think i love you.
 




Saturday Blitz chimes in:

Prediction

With its backs against the wall, don’t be surprised to see Minnesota and Fleck, pull out all the stops with gadgets and trick plays to create momentum. While I expect Rhoda to perform better at home this week, I’m not sure it will be enough.

Spartans’ dual-threat quarterback Brian Lewerke has put up a combined 12 TD’s on the season running and throwing. His versatility should be the key in this one.

Expect an old-school, hard-hitting, defensive game. Vegas has set the line at 40.5 — an extremely low total for college football games. Limiting mistakes and taking care of the football will be key. Michigan State has been the better of the two teams lately at doing so. One team comes in with momentum, the other, not so much. I expect the Spartans to be sitting at 3-0 in the conference come Saturday night.

Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 13

https://saturdayblitz.com/2017/10/11/michigan-state-football-preview-live-stream-minnesota-2017/

Go Gophers!!
 

Greder chimes in:

Gophers vs. Michigan State game prediction

The Gophers have faced a stronger defense each week of Big Ten play. Now they face one of the nation’s best, and Minnesota’s offense isn’t balanced or explosive enough to win its first game against a ranked opponent this season. Michigan State, 30-20.

http://www.twincities.com/2017/10/1...fense-football-game-time-channel-predictions/

Go Gophers!!
 

Graham Counch, Lansing State Journal

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ESPN chimes in:

No. 21 Michigan State at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET, BTN



Murphy: Michigan State is a much-improved team, but early-season performances make it hard to believe that this program is back to the level of consistency that it showed during previous title runs. Are the Spartans good enough to be good every week yet? Coach P.J. Fleck needs a win in Minnesota to avoid falling to .500. His Gophers will win the turnover battle and get one. Minnesota 28, Michigan State 20


Sherman: The Spartans are not who we thought they were a month ago, and the Gophers aren’t who we thought they were two weeks ago. It’s often easy in this type of instance to overestimate the team headed up and underestimate the team headed down. You see what I’m getting at? An upset. Minnesota 24, Michigan State 23

VanHaaren: The Spartans will likely get some confidence and an emotional boost from beating Michigan. Minnesota started the season on the right foot but has cooled down in Big Ten play so far, losing to Maryland and Purdue. Michigan State’s defense has given up only 20 points in its two Big Ten games this season, so it will be a tough game for Minnesota to win. Michigan State 23, Minnesota 14

http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/143049/big-ten-week-7-picks-will-any-among-the-ranked-fall

Go Gophers!!
 



Spartan Avenue chimes in:

Prediction

This has all the makings of a trap or letdown game, but Mark Dantonio has had his teams prepared after big wins since he’s been head coach in East Lansing. The Spartans will remain focused and continue to impress, beating Minnesota on the road for their second win away from home on the season. There will be some shaky play early on, but the Spartans will settle in and take care of business — especially defensively. And hey, Michigan State will finally have a 100-yard rusher, but who?

Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 17

https://spartanavenue.com/2017/10/12/michigan-state-football-preview-prediction-minnesota-2017/

Go Gophers!!
 

Detroit Free Press chimes in:

Two cents

Bounce-back: Dantonio and his staff have responded the week after facing Michigan in their 11 seasons. The Spartans are 8-2 in the week after the U-M game over Dantonio’s first 10 seasons. However, MSU is just 4-7 in the game after facing a top-10 opponent under Dantonio, not counting season-ending games against Stanford in 2013, Baylor in 2014, Alabama in 2015 and Penn State last year.

First time, long time: MSU and Minnesota have not played since 2013 and have only met five times with Dantonio at the helm. After losing to them in 2009, the Spartans and Dantonio have won four straight, including a 14-3 slugfest during the 2013 season in East Lansing. MSU has only played once at TCF Bank Stadium twice since it opened in 2009.

Prediction: MSU 28, Minnesota 13

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...football-scouting-report-minnesota/757894001/

Go Gophers!!
 

Athlon chimes in:

Final Analysis

If you've followed both of these teams all season, you've seen this coming. Minnesota has some serious flaws and missing pieces that have been exposed over the last couple of weeks. The Spartans, on the other hand, are built to win tough games in the nation's most physical conference. They appear to be better than the Gophers in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and that's going to be the difference in this one. Look for another low-scoring game in which the Spartans take advantage of Minnesota's one-dimensional nature on offense, letting their defensive backs play man-to-man while loading up the box. When Michigan State has the ball, Minnesota just doesn't have to horses to slow down a powerful rushing attack and an underrated group of receivers who get better by the week.

Prediction: Michigan State 24, Minnesota 10

https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...ta-golden-gophers-preview-and-prediction-2017

Go Gophers!!
 

Detroit News reporters chime in:

Matt Charboneau: The Spartans, coming off the upset win at Michigan, will surely be tested when they head North to take on the Gophers. The MSU defense has been outstanding and will look to take advantage of a suspect Minnesota passing game while containing a decent running attack. On the other side of the ball, look for Brian Lewerke to let it loose for more than last week against an injury-depleted Gophers secondary. Michigan State 28-20

Angelique Chengelis: The upset of Michigan has breathed new life into the Spartans, who will make it two wins in a row when they get done with Minnesota. The Spartans’ defense is ranked No. 4 nationally and will take advantage of a sagging Gophers’ pass game. Conversely, the Minnesota pass defense should be readily picked apart by MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke. Michigan State 24-13


Bob Wojnowski: The Spartans haven’t gotten trapped by trap games in a while, and this is a classic one following an emotional victory. P.J. Fleck’s Gophers are battered and offensively challenged, so as long as Michigan State avoids mistakes, it should slug its way through. The Spartans’ running game hasn’t cranked up yet, and might not against Minnesota’s defense, but the big-play receivers will get loose. Michigan State 27-19

John Niyo: P.J. Fleck’s cult of personality can’t cover up all the holes in the Gophers’ lineup. Minnesota lost three more starters a week ago, including their best defensive playmaker. Barring a turnover-filled night like the one they had against Notre Dame, the Spartans should be able to take control. Michigan State 27-21

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...ctions-michigan-state-vs-minnesota/106593242/

Go Gophers!!
 



Spartan Avenue reporters chime in:

Connor Muldowney: This one will come down to who can protect the ball more effectively, and that will be the Spartans. Brian Lewerke will pass for over 250 yards and the Spartans will finally have a 100-yard rusher (LJ Scott?). The defense will clamp down for the third straight game and hold yet another Big Ten opponent to less than 20 points. About 15 years ago, this exact scenario would lead to a letdown performance by the Spartans. Not anymore.

Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 17

Stephen Robb: Minnesota coach PJ Fleck’s previous teams have been a thorn in Mark Dantonio’s side. However this Minnesota team does not appear to be up to the challenge. The Golden Gophers are riddled with injuries and Fleck has yet to find his quarterback. He appears to be a year or two away from being a serious contender.

While the circumstances for victory appear to be grim for Minnesota, I would not count them out just yet. This is a classic trap game for MSU. Albeit Dantonio has done well after Michigan week, but this will be a tough test with such a young team. If they can pull off a win in Minnesota, then the rest of the Big Ten should be worried. The Spartan defense will continue it’s surge against the Golden Gophers.

This is a great game for MSU to get their run game going and probably the reason Dantonio held LJ Scott out last week. This will be a close game early in the first half but MSU pulls away in the second.

Final Score: Michigan State 28, Minnesota 10

Michael Briggs: Michigan State heads to Minnesota hoping to avoid a letdown after last week’s gutsy victory over Michigan. While Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck will have his squad motivated for an upset opportunity under the lights of TCF Bank Stadium, Spartans fans shouldn’t be too worried.

Minnesota’s defense, while impressive on paper, has been porous of late against better competition. In the last two weeks, the Gophers allowed over 400 yards of offense to both Maryland and Purdue, albeit in different ways. The Terps did it on the ground, rushing for 262 yards, while the Boilermakers found success through the air, passing for 307 yards. Minny is also pretty beaten up, especially in the secondary. Simply put, expect much more offense from MSU compared to last week’s grind-it-out defensive win over the Wolverines.

Offensively, Minnesota is very one-dimensional, as QB Conor Rhoda has only thrown 98 passes through five games. That’s not going to get it done against Michigan State. The Spartans’ stout defense will bottle up the Gophers’ rushing attack and force Rhoda to throw a few ill-advised passes, picking off two of them. Michigan State is only favored by four, but it shouldn’t be that close.

Final Score: Michigan State 27, Minnesota 10

https://spartanavenue.com/2017/10/13/michigan-state-football-score-predictions-minnesota-2017/

Go Gophers!!
 


Detroit Free Press reporters chime in:

Jeff Seidel

MSU 24, Minnesota 21: Zoom, there goes Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck. Zoom, here he comes back. The most interesting part of this game will be watching Fleck run up and down the sideline like a jack rabbit hyped up on Red Bull. But there will be no letdown for the Spartans.

Chris Solari

MSU 28, Minnesota 13: MSU and Minnesota have not met since 2013 and have met only five times with Mark Dantonio at the helm. After losing to them in 2009, the Spartans and Dantonio have won four straight, including a 14-3 slugfest in 2013 in East Lansing.

Shawn Windsor

MSU 23, Minnesota 16: The toughest thing for a young team to do is keep the edge after a big rival game. Mark Dantonio is a master at this. The Spartans hang on behind Brian Lewerke.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...wolverines-michigan-state-spartans/760509001/

Go Gophers!!
 




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