Battle Of The Undefeated!!
Yep. The time is finally here! It is Michigan vs Michigan State weekend! The number 6 team in the nation battling against the number 8 team in the nation. The last time both teams took the field against each other undefeated was 2010. This is a huge game for both teams not only to remain undefeated but they have to keep pace with a one loss Ohio State team that sits at fifth in the nation. Add on top of that, both teams have to play Ohio State as well.
Last season in Mel Tucker’s first season in East Lansing was a rather disappointment finishing the season with just two wins. After a long tenure of Mark Dantonio, Tucker wasn’t left with much to work with so a two win season wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. On the flip side, Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines also finished the season with two wins which judging from the reactions of the Go Blue faithful caused a lot of rumblings because of the team’s lack of success. 2021 is a complete flip of both scripts. Both teams are 7-0 and to be honest, is rather shocking to this writer because if you read my last article about Michigan I predicted them to be an 8 win team…which still could happen…but they have out preformed my expectations.
When it comes down to the x’s and o’s, these teams are rather similar. Both teams love to run the ball and both teams play amazing defense. Both teams have quarterbacks that are not going to light up the stat sheets but don’t get fooled…both can sling the ball. If you are a betting person, the odds came out with Michigan being a 4.5 point favorite and an over/under at 51 points. If you go by those lines, and keep in mind this game is in East Lansing and normally the home team gives 3 points for being at home so keep that in mind as well. Judging by this, books think that Michigan is a big favorite. This is rather confusing to me considering who each team has played. In my opinion, State has played a tougher schedule up to this point and Michigan has had a couple squeakers coming into Saturday’s match up.
I think we can all throw out last season’s game between these two even though it was a Michigan State victory, but both of these teams are vastly different from last year. I honestly think that this game is going to be an extremely close game. With an opening line of 4.5 points is a tad large. Yes it is a one score spread but given the fact that these two teams are so similar I expected the line to open around 1.5 points. History has shown that Michigan State has been the “little brother” in this match up but I honest think that this year little brother gets the best of big brother. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mel Tucker will allow his quarterback to air the ball out more often than Harbaugh will allow his. I also think that, and I know it is a different coaching staff, but Michigan State seems to always have an ace up their sleeve and will pull out a trick play that will turn the tides of the game. Give me Sparty at home! Sparty On!