The Michigan State Spartans travel to Champaign, IL for a Big Ten battle with the Fighting Illini of Illinois. The Spartans are in the midst of a difficult season and find themselves at just 3-5 and clinging to bowl eligibility entering this game. For Illinois, the opposite is true. The Fighting Illini are the doormats of the Big Ten no more this season with six-straight wins and a 7-1 record heading into this matchup. The opening kickoff is slated for 3:30pm on Saturday.
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Two weeks ago, the Michigan State Spartans halted a four-game losing streak in a thrilling overtime victory over Wisconsin. At 3-4, the Spartans had some momentum as they prepared to play their in-state rivals, the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday night. Unfortunately, the momentum was short-lived and the Spartans fell 29-7 to the #4 Wolverines. The game was marred further when several Michigan State players were caught on camera pummeling a Michigan player in the tunnel following the game.
“I don’t know (what happened),” Tucker said about the fight. “I know it was it heated game. Things were heated. We were tying to get our guys to the locker room. We’ll have to see what happened.
“Listen, I don’t know what happened (with the fight in the tunnel)…I did not address that (with the team in the locker room) because I didn’t have anything to a ddress, because I don’t know what happened. We have to figure that out.”
The ugly incident was another black mark on what has been a disappointing season for the Spartans after last year's 11-2 season that resulted in Tucker signing a lucrative long-term deal to coach the Spartans. Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne went 17-of-30 for 215 yards and a touchdown on Saturday and found wide receiver Keon Coleman for five catches for a career-high 155 yards and a score. They had just 11 first downs against the Wolverines and rushed for just 37 yards on 23 attempts. A far cry from last year's run-heavy offense.
Defensively, the Spartans allowed 443 total yards of offense including 276 yards on the ground. They had five tackles for loss in the game with one forced fumble and recovery. They allowed 27 first downs in the game and the Wolverines converted on 9-of-16 third downs in the game.
On the clock ?? pic.twitter.com/q0kgflXhx3
— Michigan State Football (@MSU_Football) October 30, 2022
The Spartans come into this matchup with just the 83rd ranked scoring offense. The team's running game is a far cry from last season, ranking just 118th in the nation. MSU has the 62nd ranked passing attack this season. Without a running attack, it is not surprising to see that the Spartans are ranked just 113th in red zone efficiency. The Spartans are middle of the pack in turnovers, ranked 62nd, and penalties, ranked 74th in the nation. They are 66th in scoring defense this season with the 118th ranked rushing defense and 55th ranked passing defense. They are ineffective at stopping teams in the red zone, ranking 92nd.
Key Injuries: Eight Spartans, all on the defensive side of the ball, have been suspended due to the incident after the Michigan game.