Nebraska, Penn State Shine in Week 4 Big Ten Power Rankings
Saturday Blitz Big Ten Power Rankings Week 4
3. Michigan State Spartans, 2-1 (0-0), Defeated Eastern Michigan Eagles 73-14 Last Saturday
Well the Spartans certainly looked angry about that loss to Oregon as they came off the bye week. Eastern Michigan may have a terrible defense, but Michigan State is a team that doesn’t try to run up the score usually. So that dominant win Saturday was simply, well, dominance.
Michigan State is still a great team, and that road loss to Oregon was a lot closer than it looked. Oregon always scores incredibly quickly when they do score, and it’s worth taking into account that the Spartans had them on the ropes down by two scores in the third quarter.
Michigan State’s only problem was that it had too much youth at linebacker, a crucial position when it comes to defending the spread, to play that game so early in the season. If the game were played in November, the story would have likely been different. That will show throughout the year as the Spartans continue to improve on defense while the offense keeps on doing what it’s doing. Michigan State will look like a playoff-caliber team by the end of the year, even if they don’t make the playoff.