Betting lines, game preview, and prediction for Michigan vs. Michigan State

That quickly changed.

It looked like Michigan was getting better after an exciting win over USC and a close win over Minnesota. But in Seattle, they could not handle Washington, and against Illinois, they failed to get going.

If you take out the strange COVID year of 2020, the last time Michigan lost three straight regular season games was in 2014.

After losing three straight games, Michigan State looked like it was the first year of a rebuilding process under Jonathan Smith. But then they shocked everyone by dominating Iowa 32–20, which gave them hope for six wins and a bowl game.

Now comes the most important part: beating this feud. Indiana and Illinois are coming up soon.

Michigan vs Michigan State Preview

Michigan vs Michigan State How to Watch
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
Venue: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
How to Watch: Big Ten Network
Michigan (4-3), Michigan State (4-3)

Why Michigan State Will Win

What the heck was THAT?

Iowa’s defense was very good, so Michigan State’s offense picked a great time to have its most balanced game of the year. Everything worked out against them. The running game gained 212 yards, the passing game gained 256 yards, and…

One change. It was even when it came to turnovers for the Spartans. In their last two games, they have only turned the ball over twice, after losing 13 times in their first four.

But this is about how well the defense can hold up. Michigan is dead last in the country in yards per hit, with an average of only 8.89 yards per catch.

The Michigan State defense needs to be very strong against the run because they are 4-0 when they give up less than 150 running yards and 0-3 when they give up more.

Why Michigan Will Win

It should work with the running game.

In the first three games, the Spartans did a great job stopping the run. But since then, they have let in two scores in each of the last four games.

Michigan State beat Iowa even though they gave up almost six yards per run, but that was only on 23 carries. All four of those teams were able to run the ball 35 times or more, which hurt its defense.

In the first game, against Fresno State, Michigan did not run the ball a lot. After that, it is 3-0 if you run more than 38 times and 0-3 if you come up with fewer than 38 chances.

It makes up for not having a lot of scoring by keeping the ball for almost 32 minutes per game, which is the most in the Big Ten. But…

Michigan vs Michigan State: Who Will Win

And Michigan’s defense is getting worse. They have turned the ball over 15 times this year and five times in the last two games.

It is really that easy. This will be won by the team that gets more turnovers and runs the ball a little better.

Michigan’s defense will hold strong enough, and their ground game will keep them in charge of the clock in a game with few points. It is not going to be pretty.