Let’s see which team is the one who takes the win on this Wolverines at Spartans betting preview.
The sixth-ranked Michigan Wolverines will travel to Spartan Stadium on Saturday afternoon to take on the eighth-ranked Michigan State Spartans in a Big Ten Conference matchup.
The Wolverines are a perfect 7-0 (4-0) and are coming off a 33-7 home win over the Northwestern Wildcats. Junior quarterback Cade McNamara finished going 20-of-27 for 129 yards. The Spartans are also a perfect 7-0 (4-0) so far and are coming off a 20-15 road win over the Indiana Hoosiers before their bye week.
Sophomore quarterback Payton Thorne went 14-of-26 for 126 yards with a touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
Ground and Pound
Sophomore running back Blake Corum has been running the ball extremely well for the Michigan Wolverines thus far. So far this season, he has 116 rushes for 729 yards (6.3 yards per attempt) with ten touchdowns on the ground and 18 receptions for 125 yards (6.9 yards per catch) and a receiving touchdown.
In their last game against Northwestern, he finished with 19 rushes for 119 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and a pair of rushing touchdowns, as well as four receptions for 23 yards (5.8 yards per catch). If the offensive line can continue to open up holes for Corum, the Wolverine should be in a good spot.
The Michigan Wolverines are doing an incredible job defensively as they are allowing 14.3 points per game this season. In their previous game against the Northwestern Wildcats, they gave up seven points on 233 total yards of offense (133 passing, 100 rushing). The Wolverines did not get stops as the Wildcats went 4-of-14 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down.
Michigan is forcing the other team to make mistakes as Northwestern coughed the ball up twice (one interception, one fumble recovery). If Michigan can continue doing what they did here, it will really help them against a top offense in the nation.
Walker is a Runner
When you have junior running back Kenneth Walker III in your backfield, it is exponentially easier for the Michigan State Spartans to run the football well. So far this season, he has 152 carries for 997 yards (6.6 yards per carry) with nine rushing touchdowns while also having five catches for 25 yards (5.0 yards per reception) with a touchdown reception.
Looking at the last game against the Hoosiers, he had 23 carries for 84 yards (3.7 yards per carry) but failed to score. If he can figure out a way to find the end zone like he typically does, the Spartans will be looking good here.
The defense of the Michigan State Spartans have been one of their best spots as they are allowing 18.7 points per game. In their previous game against the Indiana Hoosiers, they allowed 15 points on 322 yards of offense (188 passing, 134 rushing).
Forcing Indiana to punt the ball is a good deal, and Michigan State made them go 8-of-20 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down attempts. Winning the turnover battle is important, and the Spartans defense were able to recover a pair of fumbles. If Michigan State can figure out how to be a good defense, it will help their program.
Who to Bet
These two programs have been playing incredibly well this season, and it’s a shame that one of them will not be undefeated after this game.
However, Michigan State has been a better passing offensive team as Thorne has been doing extremely well with 15 passing touchdowns in 183 attempts, while McNamara has just five touchdowns in 146 passing attempts. All in all, go with the Michigan State Spartans +4.5 in this game.
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