No. 2 Michigan State hopes to avoid slip-up against CMU

The Michigan State Spartans, now ranked second in the country, host the Central Michigan Chippewas in college football action on Saturday. No. 22 Michigan, a major surprise at 3-1 under Jim Harbaugh, just destroyed BYU, 31-0. “I think it was shocking, and we beat them up, too”.

Another workmanlike victory, 30-10 over Central Michigan, for the everyman Spartans. “I think there were a few butterflies he had to get rid of and as soon as they were gone I thought he did a great job of protecting me, doing a good job in the running game, and I have all the confidence in the world in Dennis”.

Scouting the run defense: After giving up significant chunks of yardage in Week 3 to Air Force and its triple-option attack, the Spartans bounced back to allow just 56 yards on the ground against Central Michigan.

The odds are even for this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently uavailable.

Kavon Frazier, S: The senior leads the team with 26 tackles, including 13 in the opener against Oklahoma State that earned him Mid-American Conference West Division player of the week honors.

FINDING THE OFFENSE • After going three games, without finding the back of the net, Michigan State broke through against Rutgers on September 25.

“But at the end of the day it does show us that is where our program is at, that we got opportunities like that and we are out there in the public and in the national eye”, Harris said.

“As bad as we played on defense, they scored 10 points and that’s the low for the season”, Dantonio said. The Spartans are preparing to play the first half without LB Riley Bullough, who was ejected for targeting late in last weekend’s win over Air Force. In either event, while Cox rarely loses his man in coverage, I’d sure like to see him make more plays on the football.

Michigan State Spartans quarterback Connor Cook (18) is sacked by Central Michigan Chippewas defensive lineman Blake Serpa (2) during the 2nd half of a game at Spartan Stadium. He did, however, have an extra point blocked and the return game has yet to break a big run.

Cook is expected to be the next Spartan to make an impact at the next level and should be more successful than any of the quarterbacks in the aforementioned group.

Michigan State LT Jack Conklin is out for the game with an apparent left leg injury. MSU said it is not a season-ending injury but it also offered no timetable for when he might return.

Burbridge was limited last summer after breaking his foot, but he was ready when the season started, and he’s surpassed 100 yards in each of Michigan State’s first three games. Defensively, the Michigan State Spartans yield 274.3 yards in passing and 140.0 yards in rushing.

Dantonio doesn’t often give updates on injuries, but he’s sometimes willing to disclose if a player has been ruled out for the season.