So far Michigan State (MSU) and Michigan both find themselves not in the position they expected, just on opposite sides of the spectrum. After losing J.J. McCarthy to the NFL Draft last year, Michigan and first year coach Sherrone Moore have not found a way to recover. Using three different quarterbacks so far this year, Michigan still doesn’t have a definite starter for their last four games of the season. Meanwhile a few miles away in East Lansing, MSU – also led under a first-year coach in Jonathan Smith has had a surprisingly good season and could even make a bowl game. Even though both teams find themselves in odd spots, they can at least find some optimism for the last few games in their seasons.
Starting with Michigan, the Wolverines find themselves out of the top 25 in College Football for the first time in 54 weeks. Not only that, but Michigan still doesn’t seem to have a definite starting quarterback after trying Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle. None of those quarterbacks have been even half as good as J.J. McCarthy, and losing their star running back Blake Corum hasn’t helped their situation either. Michigan, who opened their season shaky from the start, still feels somewhat hopeful after beating MSU. Colston Loveland, Michigan’s four-star tight end recruit, is a sign of optimism for the Wolverines though. Loveland has recorded 42 receptions this year with 411 yards and four touchdowns. Not only that, Loveland also recorded eight receptions against Texas, which was a career high. The only question now is if Donovan Edwards, whose largest running play is only 41 yards but has had 89 carries for 415 yards, can pull through and carry the team.
Meanwhile a few miles away in East Lansing, MSU has played better football than most would expect. Even though the Spartans don’t have former all-stars Kenneth Walker or Keon Coleman on their team, they do have quarterback Aidan Chiles. Chiles plays very well at times but has also been inconsistent, but when he is playing at his best MSU is almost impossible to stop. Chiles has gone 125 for 205 completing only 61% of his passes and has thrown nine interceptions. But the good news for MSU is when Chiles brings his A-game, he is impossible to stop. Chiles has thrown for 1,657 yards and has a QB Rating of 63.6 which is good for 57th in college football.
To start the season, MSU was able to survive and win at home against FAU before coming back and beating Maryland on the road. Then MSU did just as expected the next week and crushed Prairie View A&M 40-0 before falling short to Boston College in a close back-and-forth game. After that, it went downhill for the Spartans who lost to two top-10 teams Ohio State (38-7), and Oregon (31-10). In both games MSU put up a good fight only being down 3-0 to OSU and 7-0 to Oregon at the end of the first quarter. The good news for MSU is they have some hope even after losing to Michigan 24-17. Sitting at 4-4, a bowl game is not out of reach for MSU.
Michigan will finish three of their last four games against top-15 ranked teams when they play Oregon, Indiana, and Ohio State who have a combined record of 22-1 and have the best three offenses in the Big Ten with all of them averaging more than 465 yards per game. The good news for Michigan though is that the team has looked better defensively, finding themselves in the middle of the Big-Ten giving up 329.5 yards per game, and has found a hope for optimism with Ernest Hausmann recording 56 tackles which is tied for seventh in the Big Ten. If the defense is okay, and the ground game continues going, Michigan could find themselves in a bowl game for the tenth year in a row.
For MSU, even after losing to Michigan, there is still hope for a bowl game as well. Sitting at 4-4. MSU will end their season against Indiana, Illinois, Purdue and Rutgers. If MSU can find a way to just win two of their last four games they will end their season at 6-6 and find themselves playing an extra game to end the year. Malik Spencer, Cal Haladay and Justin Turner will all have to lead Michigan’s State’s average defense being the only three players with more than 40 recorded tackles on the team so far this year. But if Aidan Chiles can at least be somewhat more consistent, MSU should find themselves in a good spot when the year comes to an end.
