Michigan State at Illinois: Can Spartans bounce back against rolling Fighting Illini?
It’s been a rough few days for Michigan State football and life doesn’t get any easier this week against a red-hot Illinois Fighting Illini squad.
The Spartans enter Saturday’s tilt against the Fighting Illini off another double-digit loss — this time to rival Michigan. Even worse was the postgame scuffle that resulted in eight players being suspended.
Illinois, on the other hand, enters with victories in each of its last six games. The Fighting Illini are 7-1; their lone loss came against Indiana in early September.
Can Michigan State find a way to flush last week’s black-eye performance and incident by upsetting Illinois? Here are our score predictions for Michigan State-Illinois and how we see this Big Ten battle playing out:
Andrew Brewster
Prediction: MSU 35, Illinois 21
I still think Michigan State has enough firepower, unless many more players are suspended, to handle Illinois in this one.
Cory Linsner
Prediction: MSU 21, Illinois 20
I actually think Michigan State matches up well Illinois, and I think they will feel the pressure to turn this season around. Spartans take a close one.
Robert Bondy
Prediction: Illinois 24, MSU 13
In a lot of ways, Illinois is just like the Wolverines, and we saw how that went for the Spartans last week. The Fighting Illini don’t necessarily have the same talent level as Michigan, but they will be just as tough defensively and boast an equally impressive rushing attack. This isn’t a matchup where I like the Spartans chances.
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