Penn State at Michigan State: Prediction roundtable

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – OCTOBER 21: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes against the Michigan Wolverines on October 21, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Marty Leap, Contributor

Michigan State has been one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten this season. Coming off a 3-9 campaign, the Spartans find themselves at 6-2 and ranked #24 in the country.

While the Spartan offense leaves a lot to be desired, their defense is among the best in the Big Ten. This is due to a stout defensive line and that does not bode will for Penn State this weekend.

Penn State will be without their best offensive lineman in left tackle Ryan Bates on Saturday. After Bates left the game against Ohio State last weekend, Penn State’s offense completely imploded. Look for the offensive line woes to be crippling to the Nittany Lion offense on Saturday.

Michigan State’s secondary is very vulnerable as Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson showed last week. However, I fear Trace McSorley will not be given time to throw on Saturday afternoon. Also, it will be a pleasant surprise if Penn State’s rushing attack is not non-existent in this game.

Both teams are coming off gut-wrenching losses, this will be a noon kickoff, and the weather looks bad. This has ugly game written all over it. Unfortunately, due to their offensive line woes I see the Nittany Lion offense sputtering all day long and the team coming out extremely flat and deflated leading to them dropping said ugly game bringing their National Championship hopes to an end.

Michigan State 21
Penn State 17

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