Michigan State (2-2 SU, 2-2 ATS) travels to College Park to take on Maryland (3-1 SU, 3-1 ATS) in a Big 10 game on Saturday at 3:30pmET from Maryland Stadium.
These teams met last season from East Lansing with MSU getting the win 40-21 as an 11.5-point favorite. Both teams lost their conference opener with the Spartans falling 34-7 at home to Minnesota, while the Terps lost but covered at Michigan 34-27 as a 17-point dog.
Michigan State opened the season with two wins over MAC teams when they beat up on Western Michigan 35-13 and crushed Akron 52-0. Defensive problems arose in a 39-28 loss at Washington on Sept. 17 as they allowed over 500 yards of total offense. That was followed by a 34-7 loss to Minnesota at home as a 3-point dog where the defense and offense were a no-show. At one point, MSU was ranked 9th in the USA Today Coaches Poll and now they are gone.
“For me, it's not difficult to block out the noise. I think it's more difficult for the players, just because of experience,” head coach Mel Tucker said Monday to the Detroit Free Press. “We talked about it — we talked about it immediately after the game in the locker room, and then we talked about it again today. We'll continue to talk about that. But it's facing forward now. What exactly we say and how to do that, I'll just have to keep that in-house.”
They were never in the game against the Gophers as quarterback Tanner Morgan completed 23 of 26 for 268 yards and three TDs. Minnesota had possession for 42:29 as they were able to run for 240 yards. The Spartans ran for just 38 yards, but since they were behind early, they had to throw it most of the time. Payton Thorne was ineffective with 132 yards passing and two picks. He was replaced by Noah Kim, who completed 6 of 7 for 70 yards and a TD.
Thorne should be the quarterback again this Saturday, but he has to stop turning the ball over. He's been responsible for six of the team's eight turnovers in four games. In terms of defense? They've allowed 392.5 yards pe game and 265.3 yards in the air (102nd). The good news is that they can get to the quarterback. Thanks to 5.5 sacks from linebacker Jacoby Windmon (T-1st in FBS), the Spartans are tied for first in the Big 10 with 12 sacks.