Preview: Michigan State heads to Minnesota looking for first Big Ten win

The Michigan State Spartans are in desperate need of a jolt of momentum, a sign of life, or even a reason to keep fighting the rest of the season. After a disappointing loss to rival Michigan last week, the Spartans travel to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday afternoon.

With Jonathan Smith seemingly on the hot seat, this game very well might be a must win in saving his job, at least for another week. The Gophers have had an up and down season with a 5-0 record at home but lopsided losses on the road versus Ohio State, Iowa, and California.  

Game Info

Time: Saturday, Nov. 1, 3:30 p.m. ET

TV Channel: Big Ten Network

Radio: Spartan Media Network

Location: Huntington Bank Stadium (Minneapolis, MN)

Weather: Temperatures look to be around 45 degrees at kickoff with mostly cloudy conditions. No rain is in the forecast and wind is expected to be minimal.

Minnesota Notables

The Golden Gophers are coming off an embarrassing loss in Iowa City, where they were down 31-0 less than 4 minutes into the second half. The Golden Gopher offense was only able to put up 133 yards and, to make matters worse, starting running back Darius Taylor only had one carry due to an injury and his status remains up in the air for Saturday's game vs MSU. 

Minnesota brings in an offense that ranks 17th in the Big Ten, averaging just 314.6 yards per game. Quarterback Drake Lindsey leads the way for the Gophers with 1546 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions. If running back Darius Taylor is indeed out, the redshirt-freshman will have to carry an increased role in leading the offense. While Minnesota doesn’t have any elite playmakers on the outside, they do possess a deep collection of receivers. Senior Le’Meke Brockington has 31 receptions for 339 yards and three touchdowns. Alongside him, junior Javon Tracy and freshman Jalen Smith each have nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns a piece. 

In running back Darius Taylor’s absence, freshman Fame Ijeboi took the bulk of the carries against Iowa, but only had nine carries for 17 yards. On the season he is running for 4.2 yards per carry.

On the opposite side of the field, the Gophers have a defense that has been in the upper third of the Big Ten. Led by their rush defense, they will look to take away the Spartan’s rushing attack and look to make the Spartans one-dimensional. If the Gophers are able to slow down the Spartans on the ground, the Spartans will likely struggle putting up points, based on their performances through the air the last several weeks.

Overview

The Spartans have yet to put together a game this season in which all three parts of the team perform well. Last week versus Michigan, their defense was mostly stout, but the offense could never find any consistent success. 

The one bright spot in the loss versus Michigan was the performance of running back Makhi Frazier, who had a season high in rushing and his first 100-yard game since the opener versus Western Michigan.

If Michigan State is to have a chance in this game, the Spartans will have to have a consistent push from the offensive line and create running lanes for Frazier. If they don’t, there hasn’t been enough evidence that the passing game can do enough by itself to put the Spartans in a position to win. 

The struggles for quarterback Aidan Chiles have been apparent. Outside of the first half versus Indiana, Chiles has looked rushed in the pocket, often missing open receivers. With the Spartans lacking answers for their struggling offense, is this perhaps a week that backup Alessio Milivojevic gets a couple possessions? The redshirt freshman has led scoring drives for the Spartans in the last three weeks. 

At the end of the day, this game may end up being Jonathan Smith’s last chance to show the Michigan State brass that he deserves more time. Expect a low scoring game and the likelihood that the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will be the won in victory formation at the end.