Harbaugh hailed as football genius by 12th-ranked Wolverines

“He’s been in big games before, he’s excelled in big games before”. Bragging rights. All on the line.

What follows are the five factors that will most likely determine which team wins Saturday when the 12th-ranked Wolverines host the No. 7 Spartans in Ann Arbor.

If Michigan State wins, then that could provide for another boost in the direction it is already headed.

The Wolverines also are first nationally in third-down defense (18.8 percent), No. 2 in total defense (181.3 yards per game), No. 2 in pass-efficiency defense (76.6) and passing yards allowed (115.5), No. 3 in rush defense (65.8), and No. 5 in first downs allowed (75).

“[Michigan State-Michigan] is not up in that stratosphere, no matter how much the media talks about it. It’s a great in-state rivalry, but that’s probably about the extent of it”. Jabrill Peppers made both plays on both sides of the ball and in the return game.

Unless, Spartans fans would retort, they were both working at Walmart.

After the touchdown, the MSU special teams yet again made the defense’s job harder.

The game was seemingly over when Watts-Jackson found himself in ideal position to make the unbelievable play. INJURY REPORT: Michigan State – T Jack Conklin (Probable, knee), TE Josiah Price (Probable, undisclosed), C Jack Allen (Questionable, ankle), RB Madre London (Questionable, ankle), S R.J. Williamson (Late November, bicep), OL Dennis Finley (Out for season, leg), LB Drake Martinez (Out indefinitely, foot), CB Vayante Copeland (Out for season, back), S Mark Meyers (Out indefinitely, suspension), LB Ed Davis (Out for season, knee).

I don’t think they will because I believe they will lose to an undefeated Ohio State in the final game of the season. Nobody is feeling that more than Michigan’s players, who will undoubtedly be at a fever pitch. Predictions are as foolish as the point spread. Michigan State (4-0) travel at the Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI to take on the Michigan (3-1) in a NCAA College Football rivalry on October 17, 3:33 PM…

What everyone is excited to watch is the MSU offense against the Michigan defense. Quarterbacking will make the difference Saturday.

These teams face their biggest game yet and the victor will be in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten East race, strengthening their chances of earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Jake Rudock and Connor Cook will be the maestros that lead their teams’ offenses during this game. Cook will keep it close, throwing back-shoulder passes and finding a few small windows. Their wins over Western Michigan, Oregon, Air Force, Central Michigan, Purdue, and Rutgers, have more than met expectations.

Michigan State has done very little this year to distinguish themselves as a Top-10 College Football team. “The ball is going to have to be on the money, but there will still be 50-50 balls that we have to go get”. It’s a safe bet that MSU has been asking itself that for a while now, and that Mark Dantonio is using his underdog status as fuel.

At the same time, it is not entirely apparent what the rivalry means to the Jim Harbaugh-led Wolverines. If the offensive line is healthy, that should be enough for MSU to stick around into the fourth quarter. When I was in high school it was the time of (Michigan basketball’s) Fab Five and black socks. In the end, though, this Spartan group is a bit too seasoned and frothy not to find a way to pull it out.