People went from trying to ship off Mel Tucker and Michigan State football all together to wanting to jump on the Tucker-Spartans bandwagon after their big upset against once ranked No. 13 Michigan. The Spartans turned into a completely different team after their loss to Rutgers at home. Sparty showed us they can seriously compete against good teams, and now we have another road game against Iowa this week.
Iowa is 0-2 but only by a combined total of five points from each loss. Iowa is too good of a team to be 0-2 so it will be playing tough against Sparty. Iowa has a decent run game and a fairly good passing game. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras had a rough game against Northwestern with three interceptions, but he threw for 481 yards and a touchdown. Look for Iowa to rush the ball and if that doesn’t work, it likes to go for short passes to the running back or tight end.
The Spartans need to keep up the strong defense like they had against Michigan because Iowa does know how to move the ball. I am hoping the Spartans can get the running game going because they can’t keep relying on jet sweeps and running it up the middle.
Michigan State’s passing game has been good, especially when Rocky Lombardi keeps the turnovers down and key players like Ricky White and Jalen Nailor get open and make plays. If the Spartans cannot pass, this game will be over quickly just like the Rutgers game.
I am predicting a big defensive game for two teams that seem to have a difficult time getting it going on offense. Both teams need to prove something here. Michigan State football needs to show that the Michigan game wasn’t a flute win, and Iowa needs to prove it is better than 0-2. Iowa will have a hot start but after the half, the Spartans will start taking over and win with a few minutes remaining.
Prediction: Michigan State 24, Iowa 21.
