Michigan St at Notre Dame – Preview and Prediction
NOTRE DAME 8 MICHIGAN ST (51)
Implied Projected Score: Notre Dame 29.5 Michigan St 21.5
MEGALOCKS LINE – Notre Dame 6
The Game
It’s another edition of Michigan St vs Notre Dame and this is one of the more underrated rivalries out there. Michigan St has only played one game so far and have had a week off to get ready for this contest. Notre Dame came up a bit short at Texas in week one losing in 2 OT but followed that up with a comfortable win over Nevada last week.
The Match-Up
Notre Dame offense vs Michigan St defense
The Fighting Irish have the best player on the field in QB DeShone Kizer, and in fact, we are probably watching a future first round NFL draft pick if he keeps playing at this level. Kizer is completing over 70% of his passes with an excellent 7 TD to 1 INT ratio. Josh Adams is a big-time RB. The OL has been doing a good job. The Irish are inexperienced at WR but have a couple of young players that are playing well.
It is hard to know what to expect from the Spartans’ defense. They have only played one game so far and that was against Furman on September 2nd. They have a fantastic DL in Malik McDowell and a good set of LBs. The secondary is experienced but is coming off a bit of a down year. We think they can hold Notre Dame from going nuts but Kizer is just too good to shut down.
Michigan St offense vs Notre Dame defense
This is another bit of a mystery. We know how Michigan St likes to play on offense, but we have a new QB to consider and some new WRs to get familiar with on Saturday. Michigan St is going to feature bruising RB LJ Scott and try to give Notre Dame all they can handle with the ground game. The OL looks good and they have depth at RB. The Spartans are going to miss last season’s #1 WR Aaron Burbridge and will need some new faces to emerge in the passing game. Of course, the wild card is how the new QB Tyler O’Connor will perform. He did lead the Spartans to a road win at Ohio St last season but he is still an unproven commodity.
The Notre Dame defense has been a bit disappointing the past couple of seasons. They started out this campaign getting roasted through the air by a true freshman QB and bludgeoned on the ground. They played a lot better vs Nevada at home last week. The secondary is a huge question mark this week and Sparty will take some shots down the field.
MEGA morsels
Notre Dame has three 100-yard rushers so the Spartans’ DL better get ready….their depth at that position is a bit questionable…..Michigan St is 18-7-2 ATS in their last 27 road games (72%) and the road team in this series is 12-3-1 ATS L16….Sparty better keep electric return man CJ Sanders under wraps as he is capable of being a game changer on special teams.
Summary
We have to side with Sparty in this one. There is some perceived value in the line sitting above a TD. We like the fact that Michigan St has had an extra week to prepare for this rivalry game and come into Saturday night’s match-up quite a bit healthier.
The Irish defense has not looked impressive so far and one of the stats we like is that they have ZERO sacks on the season through two games and are ranked #102nd in tackles for loss. Sparty should have a conservative game plan and be able to keep the 3rd down situations very manageable with their annoying and punishing ground attack. Kizer may win the game for the Irish but we feel like this one is going to be close.
Conclusion
Official play: Michigan St +8 -109
Lean: No lean on the total.