EAST LANSING- Michigan State football is coming off its fifth consecutive loss over No. 25 Michigan and looks to salvage the rest of its season. The Spartans can earn their first conference victoryagainst Minnesota this upcoming weekend.
Crucial calls and careless mistakes determined the outcome of the last game, but now the Spartans must focus on the upcoming task, which is leaving Minneapolis with a win.
Minnesota, coming off a landslide 41-3 loss against Iowa,which saw redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey go 16-28 with 109 passing yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Gophers offense saw minimal ball movement against the Hawkeyes, with only 133 total yards on the day against the eighth ranked total defense in the nation.
Against Michigan, the Spartans’ offense struggled, failing to gain a first down in the entire first quarter of play.
Junior quarterback Aidan Chiles went 14-28 with 130 passing yards, and redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic went 5-6 with a touchdown to redshirt junior tight end Michael Masunas, after checking in with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
With both teams coming off a difficult offensive game, defense may be the key to success in this upcoming battle.
The Spartan defense pressured Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to only 83 passing yards on the night, but the Wolverines run game tore through MSU’s defense with 276 total yards on the ground.
Against Iowa, the Gophers defense finished with two sacks for a combined loss of eight yards but allowed 274 total yards, 141 passing and 133 rushing.
With the college football season more than halfway over and four games remaining in the regular conference schedule, opportunities are becoming scarce for this Michigan State team.
Scouting Minnesota
Lindsey, the true freshman for the Gophers, has 1,546 passing yards on the season, with 10 touchdowns whilst having six interceptions, three of which were against Iowa.
Junior running back Darius Taylor leads Minnesota in rushing yards with 354 on the season with one touchdown. Taylor averages 4.4 yards per carry.
Senior wide receiver Le’Meke Brockington leads the team in receiving yards with 339 on the season with three touchdowns, averaging 10.9 yards per catch.
Senior linebacker Devon Williams leads the Gophers in tackles with 65, 24 solo and 1.5 sacks on the season.
Junior defensive back John Nestor has the team high of interceptions with three on the season along with 24 tackles.
MSU will travel to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Tune into the live broadcast featuring Jacob Maurer and Kyle Keegan locally on 88.9 FM or at https://impact89fm.org/
