Michigan St Spartans 2017 NCAA Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Michigan St Spartans 2017 NCAA Football Preview

2016 Recap

2016 Record – 3-9

2016 ATS – 4-8

Do not adjust your sets.

Michigan St did the unthinkable and finished up with a 3-9 record. Two of their three wins were against Rutgers and something called Furman. On the plus side, their other win was against Notre Dame, and that was a 24579347 STAR MEGALOCKS LATE ROTARY DIAL PHONE RELEASE WINNER. There were some close losses, no doubt about that, but winning three games is just not what this program is all about. Hopefully we can see a rebound in 2017.

2017 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

Big 10 – TBD

East Division – TBD

OFFENSE

Sparty is going to have to get better production out of whoever starts at QB. Unless the defense can perform at an elite level they need to be able to score a lot more than 24 points per game if they want to compete in the Big 10 East #HotTake. The battle for the starting QB gig will continue into fall camp, but whatever is decided, there is going to be an inexperienced signal caller at the reigns. The smart money is on sophomore Brian Lewerke getting the nod. Whomever is under center will have an inexperienced group of WRs and TEs on hand.

Michigan St will be happy to know that their 1-2 punch at RB is back is 2017. LJ Scott and Gerald Holmes combined for over 1,400 yards and 11 TDs on the ground in 2016. The offensive line only brings back two starters from last season’s unit but that does include excellent C Brian Allen.

It’s hard to imagine Sparty taking a big leap forward on offense.

DEFENSE

Michigan St was ranked mid-pack in the Big 10 in total defense last season and now move forward with only four returning starters on the stop unit. The biggest concern we have is the ability of the Spartans to get PENETRATION as they only bagged 11 (!) sacks last season in 12 games. To give you an idea of how wretched that is – Rutgers was 2nd last in the Big 10 in sacks and managed to get 21. The Spartans do get leading tackler LB Chris Frey back in 2017 along with some nice size on the interior of the defensive line. Other than that ? It feels like the cupboard may be a bit bare.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This is another area of concern. The group looks average across the board and they will miss PK Michael Geiger who nailed 15/19 FGs in 2016.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot

Nothing stands out. We will say that the schedule looks relatively nasty until the last two games of the season (Maryland, at Rutgers).

MEGAmazing Tidbits

Last season was the first time since 2009 that Sparty had a negative turnover margin.

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 2.5

MEGALOCKS says:

Overall, we give the SPARTANS a 2.5 ATS Value Rating (Poor) this season.

This is going to be a tough season for the Spartans. The running game should work, the defense may overachieve and we know that Dantonio can coach. It just feels like they are a yuuuuuge notch below the top-3 in the division.

Michigan St is just 9-17 vs the number over the past couple of seasons. Yes, sometimes you have to zig when everyone else takes a zag, but we are going to stay clear until we have a better idea this team is all about.

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